Find Me

Gr 9 Up—Tessa Waye was Wicket Tate's best friend until five years ago when Wick's drug-dealing father drove them apart. When Tessa commits suicide and her diary is left on the teen's front steps, Wick suspects there might be a dark reason she jumped to her death. Wick and her sister, Lily, are now free of their criminal father, living a shiny new life on the ritzy side of town with their foster parents. But Wick resists the temptation to immerse herself in this white-picket-fence lifestyle. She's always ready to run, or hide, because she fears her father will come back for them. Wick, an untrusting outcast, is an antiheroine to root for. Distraught by Tessa's fate and her own past, she sets out to use her hacking skills to track down the man responsible for her ex-friend's death. She is all too aware of her talent but woefully ignorant of her redeeming qualities that cause Griff, a fellow hacker, to fall in love with her. Bernard's debut is notable for its readability, genre-crossing blend of thrills and romance, and its something-for-everyone qualities.—Jamie-Lee Schombs, Loyola School, New York City