The Lost Girl Of Astor Street By Stephanie Morrill

Lydia has disappeared.

She was just at Piper’s house, explaining how she didn’t want to go to the Mayo Clinic for months, for the seizures that she knows nothing about. She was just waving goodbye.

And within minutes, she disappeared.

Worse yet, everyone on Astor Street seems to have given her up.

Not Piper Sail. She’ll do anything to get her best friend back. And that includes starting an amateur investigation, talking an intriguing detective into the case, and venturing into some of Chicago’s high-crime neighborhoods in search of her.

But this is 1924 Chicago. And what she may find about everyone she trusts . . . and herself . . . well, that could make her lose it all.

Wow. I could not put this book down. The mystery drew me in from page one. I had no idea what anyone was up to and the actual culprit took me completely by surprise, while also having enough clues that I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it (along with a few other well-placed twists and turns)! The author did a fantastic job planting just enough false clues to distract me from the obvious ones pointing to the culprit.

Second, this is a beautiful book about grief and change. It may sound weird to say this, but it actually hit me a little like the portrayal of grief in Big Hero 6. It’s so realistically done, just showing how it really feels, how it really looks like to a teen to lose someone important to you. We need more books like this.

As it does all this, it taps on strong Christian themes--but never did I feel like it was overdone or preachy. Just a brief mention here or there that beautifully proved its point.

I’m not a huge romance person, and the romance was just sweet enough to keep me interested. Plus, Piper actually had options. There for a while, I wasn’t sure who was going to be the romantic interest!

Also, Piper is actually SMART. This is becoming less and less prevalent in female characters—they’re all becoming overwrought and emotional character. I appreciate Piper’s strong but feminine character, and the fact that she thinks about things. (I’m going into one of Chicago’s most dangerous gang territories? Hmm, I might want to bring a detective with me.)

There’s no mystery about whether this book should wind up on your shelf or not. It would be a resounding yes.