Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano - ADVISABLE

Cosimano, Elle  Nearly Gone, 386 pgs.  Penguin Group, 2014.  $17.99  Content: Language: R (83 swears; 7 “F”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.   

Nearly lives in a trailer park with her stripper mother and is hoping to earn a scholarship in chemistry.  There are three kids in close competition for the scholarship and Nearly needs to be able to concentrate, but there’s a new hottie at school and she starts coming across clues that are leading to murders at her school.  Nearly finds herself tied up in a murder mystery and doesn’t know who she can trust.   

This is a great murder mystery that kept me guessing until the end.  I loved Nearly will all of her hopes for herself and thought she was a great main character.  The clues are creative and fun to figure out and the minor characters make the book more exciting.  The violence is different murdered victims.  If not for the language this book would be essential and I love that it can stand alone. 

MS-OPTIONAL; HS-ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.