Blood on My Hands

Gr 8—11—Seventeen-year-old Callie Carson is having a very bad day. She is enjoying herself at a keg party until word spreads that her "frenemy," Katherine Remington-Day, is missing. Callie finds Katherine behind a hedge with a knife sticking out of her body and assumes that it's one of the girl's sick jokes—like last summer's pretend drowning in a friend's swimming pool. Callie pulls what she thinks is a fake knife out of Katherine's body. But Katherine is really dead. Almost immediately, pictures of Callie holding the knife are taken on cell phones and posted on the Internet. When the reality of the situation sinks in, Callie she runs. In hiding and wanted by the police, she begins devising a plan to prove her innocence and to catch the real murderer. Once she is caught, Callie refuses to take the advice of her court-appointed lawyer and admit that she killed Katherine in an act of self-defense. Callie only trusts her ex-boyfriend, Slade, but even he holds a piece of the puzzle that he refuses to reveal. Todd Strasser's page-turning mystery (Egmont, 2010) with a surprise ending is guaranteed to keep listeners on the edge of their seats. Emily Bauer's wonderful narration expertly conveys the emotions of all the characters. A great selection for fans of murder mysteries and thrillers.—Cheryl Preisendorfer, Twinsburg City Schools, OH