Found by Fleur Ferris

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Random House Australia, 2018. ISBN 9780143784326
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. Themes: Thriller, Secrets. Beth Miller has lived in Deni all her life and she loves the country town atmosphere, her friends and her sporting activities. Her only problem is telling her over protective father that she has a boyfriend, Jonah. Then her father disappears before her eyes and soon she is running for her life. Her family's secrets have finally caught up with them, bringing danger and mayhem. Ferris has written a gripping suspenseful novel that fans of her books will grab and devour in one sitting. There is plenty of action as Beth tangles with armed killers and tries to come to terms with what she learns about her mother and father. This would make an exciting movie, but it is not all action and spills. Beth is a great heroine - she is strong and well prepared by her father for the day when the past catches up with the family, but she has to come to terms with lies and learn to forgive as well. The setting of a small country town is beautifully wrought and the friendships and lives of Beth's friends and acquaintances are so well described that the reader will feel they know the town and its people. The idea of a safe house under a dry dam is tantalising and readers will be engrossed as they follow Beth's wild race along the irrigation channels in the farmland. Told in the first person by Beth with alternating chapters in Jonah's voice, the narrative goes along at a fast pace and the reader gets to know these two characters very well, as they cope with exceptional circumstances as well as try to keep their relationship alive. A real page turner with lots of emotional moments as well, "Found" is sure to be a hit with teens.
Pat Pledger

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