LIARS AND FOOLS

It’s been a year since Fiona’s risk-taker mother died in a boating accident, and everyone is moving on except her. The 13-year-old’s best friend, Abby, never seems to be on her side anymore, and her agnostic father is not only selling her mother’s beloved boat but has begun dating Kathy, a medium who claims to receive messages from the deceased. When Fiona and Abby choose to study psychic phenomena for their science project, the girls give themselves the perfect pretext to prove that Kathy is a liar and Fiona’s father a fool for loving her. In this sensitive depiction of grief and acceptance, Fiona’s solid voice captures a flux of emotions that arise from her mother’s death and from being an early adolescent. She may also be a liar about her mother’s true nature and a fool for trying to push her friends and family away. Stevenson adds further layers of interest by incorporating Fiona’s British Columbia surroundings, the teen’s own love of boating and a look at several belief systems. (Fiction. 10-13)