Forgiven

Gr 7 Up—In this companion novel to Faithful (Penguin, 2010), Kula Baker is a strong-willed yet naive young woman, determined to save her father from hanging for a murder he didn't commit. Nat Baker sends his daughter to San Francisco to find a box that contains the only thing that will set him free. With little money and even less information on where to start searching, Kula turns up on the doorstep of Phillipa Everts, an aging spinster who somehow holds the key to her success. However, she has her own agenda, and has no qualms about using Kula to achieve it. She thrusts her into society, with the promise that, "It will all come out right." Kula soon finds herself torn between two men; handsome and rich Will, who can raise her above her station if he marries her, and David Wong, with whom she falls in love. With juggling the two, searching for the box, trying to avoid the evil Wilkie, and discovering the underworld dealings of child enslavement, there's an awful lot going on in this novel. However, Fox manages to weave the many strings of the plot together nicely, with everything reaching a climax during the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake that leveled the city. Kula's story comes to a heartbreaking, bittersweet conclusion that will leave readers satisfied.—Wendy Scalfaro, G. Ray Bodley High School, Fulton, NY