One night in Fort Myers, Florida, a van pauses on the road just long enough to disgorge five blindfolded 16-year-olds before it takes off into the dark. These particular teens are five of the six that were kidnapped as kindergarteners and have been missing for 11 years. Their return leads to murder charges, a media circus, flashbacks, and adjustment issues as they try to uncover what happened to them and who did it. The novel spans the first two weeks of the teens' return e time it takes to solve the kidnapping and murder case d is told by an omniscient narrator relating the story through three teens. Altebrando utilizes distinctive formatting to illuminate character and offer clues, and though at times this feels somewhat contrived, the skilled, controlled reveal of clues and insights builds in a highly satisfying way. The result is a believable and clever story that references current events (school shootings) and will keep readers engaged from beginning to end.

Five teens who were part of a group of six that vanished as kindergartners reappear as mysteriously as they went missing in this thriller. Scarlett, Lucas, Sarah, Adam, and Kristen are dropped off in a park, each with a map to their respective homes tucked into their pockets. None of them has any memory of how they got there, who was driving the van that dropped them off, nor where they've been for the past 11 years. The agony experienced by their families has taken its toll, and the homes they return to are troubled places. This is only further complicated by the fact that Max, the sixth boy who disappeared with them, has not returned, and none of them has any memory of who he is. This multilayered story is told from the perspectives of Scarlett, Lucas, and Max's younger sister, Avery, all of whom come from white families, though of varying economic backgrounds. Their voices are distinct from one another, with Scarlett's narrative employing the most unconventional structure: sentences curve into various shapes on the page, and typed slashes evocatively illustrate how her mind reels. The eventual reveal is intricate and a long time coming, but it will satisfy. A twisting and turning mystery that will grip readers even if it is at times a bit difficult to follow. (Thriller. 14-18)

In a twisting, harrowing story set over a few weeks, Altebrando (My Life in Dioramas) brings readers to a small town where six kindergartners disappeared without a trace and left an entire community grieving. The story begins on the day that five of the six return, 11 years later, their memories gone. Two of the five, Lucas and Scarlett, narrate, along with Avery, the sister of the child still missing; their alternating voices begin to piece together the mystery behind the -Leaving- and try to heal wounds of anger and loss among those left behind. In order to represent the teens- fractured memories, Altebrando toys with the formatting and layout of the text: Scarlett-s words rise and fall in places, stretch, and are broken up by scatterings of slash marks, and Lucas-s thoughts are repeatedly interrupted by fragmented images (-bloody backpack gun carousel-) set in capitalized white text in black boxes. It-s engrossing, both as a thriller and a meditation on memory-its limits, its loss, and the ways it deceives and constructs identity. Ages 13-up. Agent: David Dunton, Harvey Klinger. (June)

Eleven years agoá"the leaving" happened. The story is told in three voices, those of Scarlett and Lucastwo who were taken and returnedand Avery, not taken, but whose brother Max was taken and not returned. The book opens with the release of five of the captives now trying to understand where they were during those eleven years, where have they been dropped off, and why there was a map in each of their pockets guiding them to their homes. Told in a complicated layering, Altebrando constructs an amazing story about the lives of those taken and of those who tried to carry on back home.áThe entire town was haunted with the loss and took it up as their crusade. The returnees have few memories of their past experiences, though moments of those years do start to creep back.á The book is expansive and yet incomplete. Important story threads are abandoned and the discovery of where the young people were kept is unrealistic. Still, the story will challenge thinking and stir conversations. Perhaps the most intriguing discussion will focus on memories. Can people exist without memories? Do people create memories or do they create people?cj Bott.