Liars and Fools

Letting go of the past is a difficult endeavor for seventh-grader Fiona, who dreams of sailing around the world, despite the fact that her mother was killed in a boating accident just over a year ago. Fiona feels closest to her mother when she is aboard their boat, Eliza J, so she is understandably distraught when her father decides to sell it. To make matters worse, her father has begun dating a psychic, who Fiona is convinced is a phony. Fiona's stubbornness tries her father's patience; leads to arguments with her best friend, Abby; and nearly costs Fiona her life when, on impulse, she makes her first solo trip on Eliza J. In this perceptive novel, Stevenson (Inferno) captures the intensity of Fiona's grief and her passion for the sea. The questions haunting the heroine—is there a way to communicate with the dead? Did her mother really write "her own ticket" for her death as some people claim?—are gracefully addressed in a way that will inspire readers to draw their own conclusions. Ages 9–12. (Oct.)