SHADOW OF A DOUBT

Debate team discussions of forgiveness and justice take on new weight when the brother of a team member may have committed murder. Shadow’s brother Daniel ran away seven years ago. As a child, Shadow had followed his seven-year-older brother everywhere, and Daniel’s flight devastated him. Now Shadow wants to move on, make friends, and start his own life—though in his new high school, all the authority figures know him as a troublemaker’s kid brother. Out of the blue, Daniel telephones, and Shadow’s life turns upside down as his parents try to make sense of their long-lost son. Worse, Dan’s been charged with murder, and Shadow isn’t sure of his brother’s innocence. With the help of new friends on the school forensics team, Shadow comes to terms with his family’s problems. Too comforting an ending, as Daniel may still be convicted and sentenced to death, but thoughtful and forgiving of the large and small weaknesses of parents and children. (Fiction. YA)