The Girl Is Murder, by Kathryn Miller Haines (2011)

Pop's leg was across the room when I came downstairs.  

New York City.  1942.

Iris Anderson is 15 years old.  She used to go to an elite private school, but she now attend public school.   She used to live on the Upper East Side, but now she lives on the Lower East Side.  She used to live with her mom and dad, but now she just lives with her dad.

Iris' mom died nine months ago.  Her father was in the Navy and lost one of his legs in Pearl Harbor.  Iris is just trying to survive her new life.

On her first day of school she met a handsome boy named Tom Barney.  A few weeks later, Iris learns that her father, a private investigator, has been hired to find Tom.  Iris decides to secretly help her father solve this case.

What Pop needed was someone who could blend in, whose age and appearance meant they were easily ignored...I was going to help Pop.

The Girl Is Murder is a good mystery for teen girls.  The slang and imagery really painted a picture of NYC in 1942.

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars
*sexual references, suicide

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Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage (2012)

Trouble cruised into Tupelo landing at exactly seven minutes past noon on Wednesday, the third of June, flashing a gold badge and driving a Chevy Impala the color of dirt.  Almost before the dust had settled, Mr. Jesse turned up dead and life in Tupelo Landing turned upside down.

Tupelo Landing, North Carolina.  Population 148.

Miss Moses LoBeau is a 6th grader.  She lives with the Colonel and Miss Lana.  They are the closest things to parents that Mo has.

I was born eleven years ago, during one of the meanest hurricanes in history.  That night as people slept, they say, the rivers rose like a mutiny and pushed ashore, shouldering houses off foundations, lifting the dead from graves, gulping down lives like fresh-shucked oysters.

Some say I was born unlucky that night.  Not me.  I say I was three times lucky.

Lucky once when my Upstream Mother tied me to a makeshift raft and sent me swirling downstream to safety.  Lucky twice when the Colonel crashed his car and stumbled to the creek just in time to snatch me from the flood.  Lucky three times when Miss Lana took me in like I was her own and kept me.

Trouble comes with Detective Joe Starr comes to town.  And then Mr. Jesse is murdered.  Three Times Lucky tells the story from Mo's point of view of her quirky town as she solves the mystery behind Mr. Jesse's murder.

I loved this book!

Rating:  10 out of 10

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Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos (2011)

School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer vacation when my mother walked p to me and ruined it.

Jack Gantos has a penchant for getting into trouble; during his summer vacation, he's been "grounded for life."  Anytime he gets stressed or scared, his nose gushes blood.  

Even though he's grounded, his mom lends him to an old neighbor, Miss Volker.  Miss Volker was one of the original Norvelt inhabitants, and she writes the obituary for each original inhabitant.  She needs Jack's help to write and type up the obituaries, but Jack learns interesting and exciting details about his hometown.

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild language

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What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell (2008)

The match snapped, then sizzled, and I woke up fast.  

Evie is 15 years old.  She lives in Queens with her mother and step-father.  It's been two years since World War II ended, and live is getting back to normal.  

After receiving yet another phone call from an ex-GI looking for a job, Evie's step-father, Joe, takes the family on a vacation to Pam Beach, Florida.

Suddenly Evie is caught in a complicated web of lies that she only slowly recognizes. Murder and intrigue surround this delicious read!

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars

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