If you are looking for romance and mystery, read The Body Finder.  Violet Ambrose discovered at a very early age that she had a very special talent – she could find dead bodies, at least those that were murdered.  She can sense the echoes that the victim leaves behind and the imprints left on the killer.  During Violet’s junior year, a serial killer is loose in her hometown and she is maybe the only person to stop him.  An intense read.

(Teen, ages 12 and up)

According to the author, “The Dreamer is a work of fiction based on the events of Pablo Neruda’s childhood.”  Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973) received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 and is considered one of the most widely read poets of the 20th century.

In this story, Neftali Reyes (Pablo Neruda) is a young boy who has a vivid imagination, daydreams, hears voices, and loves to read.  He is easily distracted and can spend hours observing and investigating everything.  This is all well and good unless you have a father that has high aspirations for his young son and is a very no-nonsense man.  The father wants his son to be a doctor or dentist and finds Neftali’s writings and daydreams to be an embarrassment to the family.  Neftali is a very persistent  young boy and lets nothing stand in his way of achieving his goals in spite of being bullied and called stupid.

(Young Adult Middle/Young Adult, ages 9 – 12)

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