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Blowing Clear by Joseph C. Lincoln
Captain Superlative by J.S. Puller
Charlie & Frog by Karen Kane
The Divided Earth by Faith Erin Hicks
File M for Murder by Miranda James
Flotsametrics and the Floating World by Curtis Ebbesmeyer
Giant Days Volume 8 by John Allison
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
If Someone Says 'You Complete Me,' RUN! by Whoopi Goldberg
Inkling by Kenneth Oppel
Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity by Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Just Like Jackie by Lindsey Stoddard
The Law of Finders Keepers by Sheila Turnage
Little Red Rodent Hood by Ursula Vernon
The Lotterys More or Less by Emma Donoghue
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan
The Mystery of the Missing Mask by M.A. Wilson
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl
The Rhino in Right Field by Stacy DeKeyser
Runaways, Volume 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell
Secret Coders: Potions & Parameters by Gene Luen Yang and Matthew Holmes
Seldom Disappointed by Tony Hillerman
Show Me a Story! by Leonard S. Marcus
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Soof by Sarah Weeks
The Speaker by Traci Chee
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier
Very Rich by Polly Horvath
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™ by Rebecca Roanhorse

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Cybils Update (December 04)
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (December 03)
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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (December 17)
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November 2018 Sources
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Thirteen favourite Canadian reads of 2018

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Road Essays
FF9900 Orphan Wildlands Blue Highway

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Road Narrative Update for November 2018

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The Parker Inheritance: 12/17/18

The Parker Inheritance

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson is a standalone middle grade mystery that spans three generations of a primarily black neighborhood in Lambert, South Carolina.

The book opens with Candice Miller and her recently divorced mother arriving at her grandmother's home. The grandmother, has recently died and they are here to clean out the house, fix it up, and sell it. It's a chance to get away from the pain of the divorce — a time for Mom to clear her head.

Then there's Brandon Jones, a young gay boy who adores reading but would prefer Candice check out books for him to avoid further teasing. He tends to like "girl" books and that just adds to the brutal teasing and bullying he faces on a daily basis, especially now that school is out for summer.

Together they discover a letter written to Candice's grandmother that is one part a tale of revenge against a once powerful local white business mogul and one part promise of a huge fortune to whomever can solve the riddle. The treasure is the source of the book's title and the riddle as well as the overall plot of the book draws inspiration from The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978).

Finally, I need to mention the book's design. Like Bull by David Elliott (2017), the book uses the paper and ink color to inform you of the timeline in the narrative. There are traditionally typeset pages, pages done on varying shades of gray paper, and finally inverse, where the page is black and the text is white.

I'm going to admit right here that my first attempt at reading Johnson's latest book was a complete and utter failure. The Parker Inheritance requires concentration and focus on details. It cannot be skimmed. It cannot be read while distracted. I am so glad I went back and tried a second time.

Five stars

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