FALLOUT AND FORENSICS

The last review by Mr. B. of the Grandview Branch, who is now retiring.  He will be missed. 

Forensics and CSI fans, rejoice; this is a thriller just for you. On Saturday morning, thirteen year old Oz Keiller discovers a body in The Cold Case (walk-in freezer) at his mom’s restaurant. Oz’ older brother Dave, chef and now acting manager while mom is out of town, is arrested when his personal chef’s knife is found in the bushes outside the restaurant and identified as the murder weapon. The news that the dead man ate dinner in  the restaurant Friday night, and that he was the reporter who years ago had labeled Oz’ late father a traitor for selling nuclear secrets to the Russians leaves Oz as angry and hurt as he is shaken. No one had ever told him about his father’s case.  

After he pulls himself together, Oz calls his best friend Rusty, a girl obsessed with forensics techniques. Over the next four days, while attempting to clear Dave and to prove his father’s innocence, Oz witnesses another murder; and he and Rusty dodge spies, politicians, police, reporters, blackmailers, the killer, and uncover evidence solving a related “Cold Case.”  Julia Platt Leonard’s thriller, set in New Mexico, pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go until the last pages when Oz discovers a surprise conspirator.

Age: 11-14

DUCK AND COVER

Franny has a lot of problems.  Her best friend is being mean to her.  Her sister is receiving secret letters in the mail and won't tell her about them.  Her brother is Mr. Perfect.  Her Uncle thinks he is still in World War II.  And, as if growing up a normal kid wasn't hard enough, her country is in  the middle of the Cold War.  Its 1962 and Franny is constantly afraid of a nuclear bomb falling from the sky.  The only thing that can get her through everything is listening to music and taking life one day at a time - since she never knows which day will be her last.

Using mixed-media such as song lyrics, photographs, speeches, and other snippets from 1962, Countdown by Deborah Wiles creates a world which children in grades 5 and up can easily relate to while also learning about the Cold War and its effects on an everyday family.  

For 5th grade and older.