Picture Perfect by Elaine Marie Alphin (244 pages)
Ian Slater is the principal’s son. He’s expected to be a good student, behave in class, and keep his nose out of trouble at all times. He and his friend Teddy spend their free time practicing their photography skills out in the redwood forest. But, Teddy has disappeared. No one has seen or heard from him, and the authorities expect the worst. Ian begins having vague memories of Teddy being hurt, but he thinks he must be dreaming because he knows he wasn’t with Teddy when he disappeared, or was he? Fall through the dark hole that is Ian’s life, with a mentally abusive father, verbally abusive Grandmother, and reclusive mother, as he attempts to solve the mystery of his best friend’s disappearance.
Miss Simer’s Rating: ***
Kissed by an Angel (Book One) - 230 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: ***1/2
One year after his mother was arrested for murdering his stepfather, runaway Michael Daye returns to his hometown. He’s been living as “Robert Frost” with the carnival for the year, not telling anyone his real name or his family history. His mother’s trial is starting soon and Michael is reliving his last days with her and his stepdad. He remembers two years of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse that he and his mother endured and he begins to remember what really happened the night his stepdad was killed. Told in alternating times (from last year and this year), the truth behind Michael’s urge to runaway slowly begins to reveal itself. How much abuse can one person take before finally reaching their breaking point? Find out in this thriller!
Marcus’s world is full of techno-secrets and gadgets. He and his friends are out in the city of San Francisco playing a reality-based technology game when a terrorist attack destroys the city’s Bay Bridge. Marcus and his friends hear announcements about taking shelter and head for the subway tunnels. The crowds are so fierce that one of his friends is stabbed! When trying to flag down help, Marcus is picked up by the Department of Homeland Security and tortured for being a suspected terrorist! This all happens in the first 50 pages of the book! Marcus’s techno-knowledge helps him to lead an underground, anonymous rebellion with the help an XBox and he tries to restore normalcy to his beloved home city. (for mature readers)
When thirteen-year-old Col finds out his older brother, Mungo, is in trouble with the law (again!), he helps him out by giving him an alibi. Col always covers for Mungo and thinks it’s pretty funny when he gets away with things. One day, Col is out by the loch and witnesses a young boy heading out onto the thin ice. He thinks the boy is pretty dumb and decides to rob him while he’s out on the loch. Then, the ice breaks and the boy falls through. Without thinking, Col rushes over to help him, saving the boy’s life but nearly drowning himself. Now, the town proclaims him a hero, but Col isn’t sure how to handle such positive attention for once. Mungo doesn’t like it either, and when Col finds out Mungo’s dirty secret, he must decide whether family loyalty is more important than honesty.
