Dead Girls Don't Lie

August 15, 2013
But can dead girls help solve their own murders? Rachel and Jaycee used to be best friends until Latina Rachel started hanging out with an emerging gang population in their small town. After Rachel is shot in her home and the police write off her death as a gang-related accident, it's up to Jaycee to track down her friend's killer. In this satisfying mystery, Jaycee has plenty of offers for help: There's new boyfriend Skyler, Skyler's older brother (and high school cad), law enforcement, an ex-gang member and, most prominently, a variety of messages Rachel, realizing her death could be imminent, hid before her murder. As Jaycee uncovers her small town's biggest secrets, she never knows whom she can fully trust, especially when her own life is in jeopardy. She must also reckon with her developing, personal moral code when her religious single father sets strict limits that impede her investigation and blossoming first love with Skyler. While the story covers such mature issues as murder, mental illness and racism, it refrains from edgy language and sex (only a few steamy kisses take place). Although the action waxes and wanes, the story's greatest strength is in keeping readers guessing the killer's real identity until the final scenes. (Mystery. 14 & up)

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October 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-Rachel and Jaycee are inseparable until Rachel starts changing everything from her look to hanging out with a suspicious crowd, and churchgoing good girl Jaycee is quickly pushed out. They haven't spoken in nearly a year, so Jaycee ignores the frantic text she gets one night from Rachel, instructing Jaycee to meet her, and instead focuses on the kiss she's sharing with handsome but awkward Skyler Cross. That same night Rachel is found dead, and what unfolds in this follow-up to Breaking Beautiful (Walker, 2012) is a fast-paced and complex mystery that brings up questions of race and the sometimes obsessive and dangerous nature of first love. Jaycee is left with only a series of clues in the form of encrypted texts and hidden messages to help her unravel the story of Rachel's murder. Skyler offers his help, while his brothers seem interested in stopping her from digging deeper. Local cops chalk the crime up to the presence of several ex-gang members in the small town, but Jaycee soon realizes that even the police have something to hide. Despite increasing threats to her safety, Jaycee is determined to pursue the investigation. The book is written in simple language that will appeal to a variety of readers, from devotees of Sara Shepard's "Pretty Little Liars" books (HarperCollins) to those with a penchant for more serious titles, such as Lauren Myracle's Shine (Abrams, 2011). The steady pacing and exciting conclusion make this one hard to put down.-Joanna Sondheim, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City

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