Horn Book

Tillie Green has isolated herself from her peers ever since a car accident in fourth grade incapacitated her for months and left her with a pronounced and painful limp that has made her an object of pity and, occasionally, ridicule. Now in seventh grade and a talented photographer, Tillie keeps the lens of her camera between her and her schoolmates, and although she has no friends, she does have an identity. She acts as the school’s de facto “Lost and Found,” scrutinizing the myriad photos she takes throughout the day in order to locate urgent necessities her classmates have mislaid—permission slips, homework, soccer cleats. One day popular, self-confident Jake asks for her help in solving a larger mystery: his beloved father’s disappearance. From here Young rolls out a suspenseful mystery/ detective story. Why does a mysterious blue Chevy keep following Jake? Why are Jake’s father’s coworkers clearly lying about his whereabouts? But more than that: the novel soon deepens into a nuanced coming-of-age story, with Tillie and Jake becoming true friends and Tillie taking physical and emotional risks that begin to free her from her limiting self-image. (And the solution to the mystery, appropriately, turns out to be equally nuanced, and very human). Although the plot’s climax is a bit over-the-top, readers by that point will be completely invested in ultra-sympathetic Tillie’s life and progress. Authentic middle-school dialogue, humor, and social dynamics and believable secondary characters (Tillie’s mother is the quintessential wonderfully supportive but also overly intrusive parent) add to this affecting debut novel’s appeal. martha v. parravano