The June Boys

In June 2010, in Wildwood, Tenn., 17-year-old Thea Delacroix, the heroine of this engrossing mystery from Stevens (Dress Codes for Small Towns), and her friends are still searching for her Kentucky cousin, Aulus McClaghen, a teen who went missing a year earlier. She fears Aulus is a victim of the Gemini Thief, who, since 2001, has been kidnapping three children at a time, holding them for 13 months, then releasing them without harm. This pattern changes with the discovery of the body of one of the kidnapped boys with Aulus’s key chain stuffed in his mouth, one made by Thea’s father, who soon becomes the FBI’s primary suspect. The letters written by Aulus while captive, addressed to real-life kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart, allow the reader to experience the boy’s fears and courage. A surprising culprit is revealed at the heartbreaking, though hopeful, ending. Stevens takes a good swing at resolving lost faith and trust while trying to rebuild the strengths and bonds of family and friends. Ages 13–up. [em](Mar.) [/em]