Lost & Found

Gr 6 Up—This second installment in a series of faith-based mysteries features 14-year-old Emily and her friend Olivia, who discovers that she is adopted. As the girls investigate a potential connection to Olivia's birth parents, someone sets fire to the school, and Emily's stepmother goes missing. The young teens try to solve all of these mysteries at once, but run afoul of their parents. While the plot is fast-paced and the overall mood suspenseful and engaging, the dialogue is clumsy and the narrative can feel pedantic. Set in a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Cobble charmingly captures an interwoven community with festivals, school spirit, and overlapping relationships. Fans returning to the series will enjoy the welcome trip with familiar faces, but new readers might be confused at the lack of backstory for the many characters. The personal growth of Emily and Olivia is told rather than shown through their actions, which causes the characters to feel static. Though not outstanding, this is a solid choice for libraries who own the first title, Search & Rescue (Thomas Nelson, 2013), Cobble's adult series set in the same town, or in communities where Christian fiction is in high demand.—Elizabeth Nicolai, Anchorage Public Library, AK