Language: PG (16 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG (kissing, drinking); Violence: PG (murders, peril)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
18 years ago a newborn baby girl drifted in a canoe to Nowhere on Orcas Island in Washington. She was given the name of Lucy and taken in by a local ship-builder and estate owner, Dakon Sanders, living as an employee of the estate. Just as she plans to leave Nowhere to attend university on the mainland, she discovers her employer's severed head on the shore. Then, unaccountably, she is named the heiress of Nowhere and the owner of Mr. Sander's shipping company. Now 18yo, Lucy discovers that her father was the Can Man, who was murdered in the same way as Mr. Sanders 18 years earlier. Lucy now knows that she must discover who murdered her father and Mr. Sanders before she is the next victim.
The mysterious happenings are an engaging way that keeps the reader anxiously following the trail of clues. Lucy is a likeable protagonist and the setting in the Northwest islands off of Washington enhances the storyline. As an English teacher, I was also happy to see great vocabulary word building. The main drawback to this story is that Lucy looks at everyone as a suspect and can find a motive to kill each of them. This became a little tedious as she tried to unravel the mystery.
Lucy's father was Chinese, a childhood friend, Kai, is Hawaiian.
Rebecca Jo Hansen, HS Language Arts teacher
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