Liars and Fools

Gr 6—8—A year has passed since Fiona's mother died in a sailing accident, and the 13-year-old has not been able to fill the void left by her and their shared love of sailing. To add to her sadness, her father has forbidden her to sail and puts the family boat up for sale, and he starts dating Kathy, a professional psychic who believes that she can speak with the dead. Fiona enlists the help of her best friend, Abby, for a school project to investigate psychic phenomena. She believes that proving Kathy is a fraud will break up her father's relationship, although a small part of her longs to be able to communicate with her mother. Only by learning more about her parents and Kathy is she able to slowly accept the possibility of a hopeful future. This book has a well-rounded main character who speaks and acts like a teenage girl and a cast of believable secondary characters, and the sailing subplot provides additional interest.—Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Alberta, Canada