But Myla possesses a necklace that holds a clue. Even after Peter and Myla bond over being the only people of color in an otherwise white school (Myla is Indian-American mixed-race Peter is Indian, African-American, and white), Peter can’t believe the gang is after Myla. The duo’s collaboration is initially an unwilling one fraught with misunderstandings. Now everyone is searching, including Randall. She was rumored to have hidden his diamonds before her suspicious death, leaving clues to their whereabouts. It started long ago when the boys’ grandmother, a diamond-cutter, partnered with the head of the gang. Myla and Peter step into the path of a gang when they unite forces to find Peter’s runaway brother, Randall.Īs they follow the graffiti tags that Randall has been painting in honor of the boys’ deceased father, they uncover a sinister history involving stolen diamonds, disappearances, and deaths. By the end of this tale, replete with allusions to Our Town, Doug realizes he’s pretty happy in Marysville, where holding hands with the green-eyed girl-and a first kiss-rival whatever might be happening on the moon. This is Schmidt’s best novel yet-darker than The Wednesday Wars and written with more restraint, but with the same expert attention to voice, character and big ideas. He meets pretty Lillian Spicer, just the feisty friend Doug needs, and a whole cast of small-town characters opens Doug to what he might be in the world. Powell, the town librarian, teaches Doug to paint and see the world as an artist. Each chapter opens with a print of a John James Audubon painting, and Mr. Readers of the Newbery Honor–winning The Wednesday Wars (2007) will remember Doug, now less edgy and gradually more open to the possibilities of life in a small town. He hates “stupid Marysville,” so far from home and his beloved Yankee Stadium, and he may have moved away, but his cruel father and abusive brothers are still with him. The Vietnam War and Apollo 11 are in the background, and between a war in a distant land and a spacecraft heading to the moon, Doug Swieteck starts a new life in tiny Marysville, N.Y.

Okay for now gary schmidt