Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

One by one Kya's family leaves her--her mother, her siblings, her beloved Jodie, and lastly her alcoholic and abusive father. Kya, whom the town  calls "the marsh girl," learns to rely on herself and turns to the marsh for comfort. 

While its difficult to fathom how she can do this, Kya learns to provide food for herself by bartering with a local bait shop owner, Jumpin'. She hides from anyone wanting to send her to the local school but eagerly learns to read from a local boy, Tate.

Shunned by the inhabitants of Barkley Cove, Kya learns to hide as skillfully as a deer. Part of Kya, however, still yearns to connect with the townspeople.

Maybe that's why she falls for Chase, the confident local rich kid who motors a flashy boat. By this point, Tate has also abandoned her--he has gone off to college. 

Kya believes Chase's lies--that he loves her and intends to marry her. Only later will Kya comprehend the depth of his deception and it nearly destroys her.

This is an incredible story with many plot twists that keep readers guessing. 

Mired with Kya's story is the story of the town itself and its prejudice towards her. When Chase turns up dead, the sheriff automatically accuses Kya.

Since childhood Kya has collected feathers, shells, and other marsh specimens. Just as Kya uses her intelligence to scientifically catalog her marsh specimens, Kya will use her intelligence to safeguard what she believes rightly belongs to her.  

This debut spent many weeks on the New York Times best-selling list and will soon become a major film.

Lost and Found by Brooke Davis

Brooke Davis is a vibrant new voice in fiction. She gives the viewpoints of three characters--a lonely old man, a crochety old woman and a seven-year-old girl who contemplates death. Her father has just died and her mother has abandoned her in a department store. 

Davis mixes just the right amount of pathos and humor when she gives voices Milly. When her mother does not return for her, she imagines that one of the manikins is her friend. She record dead things in her dead things journal. She leaves notes that will supposedly help her Mum find her: "In here Mum."

She also befriends Karl, a touch typist who writes messages to his deceased wife in the air. By accident, Karl joins Milly and Agatha on a bus journey to Kalgoorlie. 

The bus trip is followed by an outlandish train trip through Nullarbor Plain. The three of them are determined to find Milly's Mum or, at least, a relative to take care of her.

Lost and Found is completely different from anything else I've read. Very few novels, after all, feature a seven-year-old who run away with two octogenarians. Very few novels features a seven-year-old who is obsessed with death. 

What makes Milly so unique, however, is her ironic innocence and intelligence.She nearly meets her match though on the train when she meets another little boy who calls himself "Captain Everything."