Ahh the joys of being seventeen. Parties with friends, shopping for a dress for prom, hopping in the car and driving off to your favorite restaurant anytime over winter break... Not for Imogene Scot. She loves a good mystery, and by mystery I mean a novel with a fantastic mystery theme involved. No worries, she blames that on her father who is a medical coroner turned mystery novelist. She's not sure if she gets any of her social hesitation from her mom, because her mom left in the middle of the night before Imogene was even old enough to finish a full sentence.
The mystery of her mother has always eluded her, her own father tells her nothing more than a bed time story involving a stone. That she can get over. However, when her father leaves in the middle of the night Imogene can not deal with the fact that both her parents have left. After discovering clues along the way she believes her father has left to find her mother. Maybe if she finds him she will find a happily ever after at the end? Maybe.
The Mystery of Hollow Places dives into some heavy topics that many of us have dealt with in one way or another. Podos does a fabulous job of crafting metaphors that dance around the topics of depression and mental illness. On top of that the themes of child abandonment and strained family relationships are worked in to the story. All of that mixed with trying to be a "normal" teenager. You will cry for her when the world comes crashing in around Imogene and then stand up and root whole heartedly for her when she show her confidence and breaks the rules to find answers. The Mystery of Hollow Places is located on the New Teen Shelf. Check it out and let us know what you think!
-JAC
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