It's
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
at
at
and #IMWAYR day
at
May 12, 2026 by Christy Ottaviano Books (Little, Brown)
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Tessa Lundgren has always known she was left at a fire station right after her birth and adopted, and is happy with her parents, but when she turns 18, her best friend El gives her a DNA test. The two had always thought about who Tessa's biological parents might have been, so Tessa does eventually send off the test. She's busy at school, and starts hanging out with her lab partner, Victor. In alternating chapters, we also hear the point of view of Keisha, a police officer who is sent to do a welfare check on a young woman named Alida and finds her murdered. She starts to delve into the fifteen years history of a killer called the Portland Phantom who is scrupulous about leaving no traces, but who does leave gruesome "calling cards" of mementos from previous victims. There is only one sample of DNA from one of his killings, taken from underneath the fingernails of the victim. We also see Quentin Sinclair, who is committing the murders, and get a look at the warped psychology behind his actions. While her parents are generally supportive of her, Tessa has noticed that they seem very stressed, and worry that they will divorce, leaving her and her younger sister Phoebe, their biological child, in a stressful situation. When she gets her DNA match back, she locates a woman who is probably a cousin of her mother. Audrey meets up with Tessa, El, and Victor, and seems to think that her cousin Gina might be Tessa's mother. Gina is involved in a cult-like religious group called the Reapers, and does talk to Tessa. It seems that her daughter Ruth might be Tessa's mother, but she ran away from home around the time that Tessa was born. Since she was raised in such a strict environment, Tessa is at a loss as to who her father might have been. She talks to Ruth's brother Jared, who gives her Ruth's diary. There's still not a lot of information. There has been yet another murder, and Keisha, who is still involved in the investigation, gets an alert about Tessa's DNA test. Suspicion falls on Tessa's father, until the detectives talk to Tessa and find out that she is adopted. We see Quentin setting up his next murder, and learn about Ruth's affair with him from his perspective. Tessa is upset to learn that her father might be the Portland Phantom, but when Quentin finds out he has a daughter, the situation becomes dangerous for all involved. Will Tessa find her father, or will she become his next victim?
My students are enthralled by true crime podcasts and documentaries like the one in the book that details the investigation into the Portland Phantom and is quoted between chapters. Henry's When We Go Missing has been extremely popular with my students, and this book is even better!
I've never been a fan of true crime stories, but Henry writes such incredible mysteries that I was drawn right in. There are a lot of twists and turns that I don't want to ruin. Seeing the story unfold from three different perspectives didn't sound that appealing to me at first, but ended up being absolutely fascinating, and added a huge amount of tension to the story! The research behind the science of DNA and the way that crime scenes are investigated is very evident, and I would NEVER want to get on Henry's bad side. If anyone could pull off the perfect crime, I think it could be her!
The best part of this was that even though the murders are grisly and Quentin is clearly deranged, there are no details that make this inappropriate for middle school readers. Even Ruth's pregnancy is framed in a very factual way with no particulars. Showing Quentin's thought process can't have been easy, but we see his wife, Melanie and her Precious Moments figurines, and also Quentin's creepy storage unit with the relics from his victims. This is top notch writing, since it is suspenseful without having to resort to gruesome descriptions, profanity, or more mature language.
There's plenty of suspense, and the end of the book is fraught with danger. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that Tessa survives, and ends up writing a book about her experience, since throughout the story she has talked about wanting to write. After all of the tension of the book, it is good to have a happy ending; even Tessa's parents problems are revealed as being a health issues with the father.
Something about the cover reminded me of Lois Duncan or Joan Lowery Nixon books from the 1990s, in absolutely the best way. There's always been a middle grade and young adult interest in true crime and murder, but they are hard topics to write about for this age group. Henry knocks it out of the park every single time with her books, and just keeps getting better and better. I will buy at least three copies of this newest title, which my students have been asking about already in January 2026.
Also, I hadn't known that the murder case of Lois Duncan's daughter was solved in 2021. Sadly, the author died in 2016.
https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/lois-duncan-daughter-serial-killer-paul-apodaca
Diamond Fever! A True Crime Story in the Wild West
May 12, 2026 by Roaring Brook Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
True Crime books are very popular with my students now, and I've even been surprised at how many of my students will read Day and Helquist's The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity. While I love history, I'm not as big a fan of true Crime, and while I enjoy mysteries, I am rubbish at keeping all of the clues straight.
Diamond Fever will be a popular choice for nonfiction projects, and comes in at 256 pages, which meets the "over 200 pages" requirements. I could give a synopsis of all of the characters and the back and forth of the story, but since there is a list complete with thumbnails of the participants at the front of the book, there are just too many characters for me.
Suffice it to say, there were two very wily and somewhat evil men, cousins Philip Arnold and John Slack, who is 1871 put in place a very elaborate hoax that there was a diamond mine somewhere in the west. They got all manner of well respected men drawn into the hoax, and strung them along for years, trying to get legal rights to the mine so they could see stocks. There were even some British connections to this, and men like Charles Lewis Tiffany and Henry Janin were involved. Land was salted with diamonds and rubies that were probably bought in London, and it took a government surveyor, Clarence King, to uncover the hoax. This no doubt was covered sensationally in the newspapers, and I sort of want to travel to Elizabethtown, Kentucky to see the Arnold sites.
Students will enjoy the travels, the intrigue, and the snarky tone that Sheinkin employs. Even narrative nonfiction can be a little dry, and when you're working on a project for a month or more, it's good to have an engaging title. This will be right up there with Fleming's The Curse of the Mummy and Seiple's Byrd and Igloo for handing to students who are reluctant to read nonfiction. The inclusion of comic style panels throughout won't hurt!
No comments:
Post a Comment