The Almost Truth
Eighteen-year-old Sadie has been running con games as far back as she can remember. She picked them up from her now-imprisoned father, honing her skills with her best friend and accomplice Brendan throughout her youth. Now she needs money. Life on tony Bowton Island, just across the bay from Seattle, is fine for rich folks, but for kids like Sadie and Brendan, who slave away at the island’s luxury hotel, it’s a dead end. Then Sadie learns about a little girl, Ava, who disappeared from the island’s hotel 15 years earlier and has never been found. An age-enhanced photo of Ava bears a striking resemblance to Sadie herself. Perhaps Sadie and Brendan have the opportunity to pull the perfect con. Or perhaps Sadie will find answers to questions she never realized were there. The puzzle of Ava’s disappearance adds a compelling element to the story, and although this book isn’t marketed as a mystery, it’s just as well plotted as those of Caroline Cooney or Gail Giles. Also, readers will immediately understand that there’s a fierce attraction smoldering in the buddy-buddy relationship between Sadie and Brendan: all it takes is a handsome stranger to bring passion to full blaze. Recommend to fans of Laura Barnholdt or Maureen Johnson. Grades 8-12, --Diane Colson