FINISHED:
Silvey, Craig. (2011). Jasper Jones. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

[POWERFUL and upsetting. It's the late 1960s in Australia, and Charles wakes to a rapping on his window. It's Jasper Jones, the young town outcast whom everyone believes to be a no-good thief and troublemaker who'll never amount to anything. Charles is led by Jasper to a secluded area near a river where a young girl is hanging by a noose from a tree limb. Afraid that he'll be blamed for the girl's murder, Jasper has Charles help him cut the girl down, ties a rock to her feet, and then dumps her in a watering hole. Who murdered the girl? Was it the town recluse whose peach tree is constantly raided by town kids who want to prove their bravery? LOTS of deep thoughts and conversations abound regarding the existence of a higher power, the nature of good and evil, and whether or not the labels that we are assigned can be rewritten.]

STARTED:
Hardinge, Frances. (2011). Fly trap. New York: HarperCollins.

[Reviewing for ACL. TRIED to read the prequel to this one, but just couldn't slog through it...]

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