Guilty

June 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-Lila Ouimette's father is shot, apparently while committing murder. Finn Newsome witnesses a man (who happens to be Lila's father) kill his stepmother. Then he sees his father kill the man. It happens that the man is the same one who killed Finn's birth mother 10 years earlier. Finn has the feeling that this just can't be a coincidence and struggles to find answers to the two crimes. Lila struggles with her father's death and wonders what kind of person he was to be involved in two deaths. Finn and Lila meet at the police station, and neither one realizes who the other is. Little do they know how their paths will cross as they try to comprehend what happened and who is responsible. Guilty is told in fairly short, alternating chapters between Finn and Lila. The resolution of the mystery is somewhat predictable, but the story is fast paced and it may appeal to reluctant readers.-Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 In this searing detective story, the sleuths are two high-school students whose lives have been blown apart by the loser adults to whom they're related. The novel gets off to a tense start as 17-year-old Finn watches a strange man approach his father and stepmother in front of their garage. Within seconds his stepmother and the stranger are shot to death. Finn's father claims that the stranger shot his wife and that he responded in self-defense. Adding to the horror is the shadow of death that hangs over this family: Finn's mother was murdered by this same man 10 years before. McClintock moves from this scene of loss to another, that of Lila, daughter of the killer, who has now become an orphan. The two teenage pawns edge closer and closer, until they meet in the police station and forge a bond to find out who has been lying to them. The chapters alternate between Finn and Lila's points of view, a juxtaposition that lends even more depth and energy to an already exciting story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)