Shutter

The daughter of social-justice-crusading parents, 16-year-old amateur photographer Day O’Connor takes up the cause of a teenage convict on the run in this uneven mystery. After Day spots a handsome, disheveled boy with a familiar-looking face in a local Massachusetts convenience store, she learns that he is Julian Roman, 16, accused of killing his parents and escaping a nearby juvenile detention facility. Day hides Julian in her parents’ barn while she aims to learn more about his case; Julian is predictably reluctant to share his feelings with Day, who is excited to have found a cause célèbre to rival those that take up more and more of her mother’s time. Julian recounts his own version of the events leading to the deaths of his abusive father and depressed mother in italicized chapters, which makes his tape-recorded interviews with the eager Day feel like overkill. While readers may unravel the whodunit before Day does, Stolarz (Welcome to the Dark House) creates some genuinely emotional scenes and thorny dilemmas for her characters. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kathy Green, Kathryn Green Literary. (Oct.)