Guilty

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