Kira enjoys helping her foster mom, Cady, train dogs for search-and-rescue operations. But this work becomes deeply personal when Cady's estranged father shows up, begging the two to help find a girl who's gone missing, in a case that may connect with Kira's own story. A tense mystery plot and strongly drawn setting help compensate for underdeveloped supporting characters.

Kira has few memories of her early life. The strongest one is of the moment she was found in the woods by Silver, a search-and-rescue German shepherd, and Cady Bennett, her handler. Though aging, Silver still looks out for Kira, now a teenager living with Cady and the rest of her adopted family and training a dog of her own. Then Cady's estranged father shows up: a girl has gone missing in the wilderness, and he needs help. As the search intensifies, it becomes clear that the girl is not just missing, she was taken d if Kira is going to be any help at all, she'll have to control the traumatic memories this search is unearthing for her. Barnes smartly maps the psychological landscape of a girl working through her early-life trauma, which makes this mystery, seen through Kira's eyes, layered and compelling. The wilderness survival component ups the stakes, and for animal-loving teens, the dogs add an intriguing and little-seen element. A moody, gripping puzzle.

A young woman revisits her own traumatic past when she helps search for a missing little girl in this psychological thriller.Kira has lived with her caring foster mom, Cady, a rescue dog trainer, and her goofy foster brother, Jude, since she was found in the woods as a child. She's developed close relationships with both of them and with their spirited neighbor, Free, though in many ways it's the dogs they train to whom she feels the strongest kinship. Her world is shaken to its core, however, when Cady's long-estranged father, Bales, suddenly appears and they get pulled into the search effort in Sierra Glades National Park, which borders Cady's hometown. Kira's first-person narration will grip readers as she experiences troubling flashbacks to her own long-ago ordeal that progressively ratchet the tension of this mystery up as it unfolds. Leisurely paced, the slow build allows for the introduction of an array of somewhat unevenly developed characters, including a teen named Gabriel who lives with Bales, has been in legal trouble, and whose own family history is mired in secrets. The penultimate denouement will likely take readers by surprise as the plot detours into an unpredictable twist. All main characters are assumed white except for Gabriel, who is Latinx.An engaging, clever, suspenseful story in which readers—especially dog-loving teens—will easily lose themselves. (Thriller. 12-18)