Me, The Missing, and the Dead

by Jenny Valentine

Summary: Lucas' father went missing when he was a little boy. While it's pretty clear to the reader that his dad, wherever he is, is a jerk, Lucas still idolizes him. One day, while sitting in a taxi office, he spies an urn that was abandoned in the back of a cab. It contains the ashes of one Violet Park, and Lucas feels an uncanny connection to her. Through an elaborate plot, he manages to get the urn into his possession, and starts to try to figure out who this woman is, and why her remains were so carelessly discarded. As he works on getting to know Violet, he also begins to find out more and more about his father. The twist ending is truly surprising and believable.

My thoughts: This is a first novel from a British author, so I really enjoyed the characters' very English voices. There is something special about Lucas. He's smart, funny, and his reactions to the puzzling situations he finds himself in are realistically teenager-ish. However, he also shows an uncommon maturity that sort of breaks your heart a little.