Wherever Nina Lies

Wherever Nina Lies, by Lynn Weingarten, delivers a small taste of the morbid with her novel about a cross-country jaunt to find a missing sister. There's adventure galore, as well as romance that turns out to be something completely unexpected (oh believe me, it IS). I loved the way the author created Nina as an artist, and scattered some of her really nice drawings throughout the book, giving it a unique feel. When you read the book, Ellie, the narrator's frustration and determination is completely believable, and you can sometimes find yourself sympathizing with her. That being said, the book carries a rather depressing tone throughout the story, and at the climax, the storyline changed a bit too suddenly for me.

Plot summary: Ellie Wrigley might seem like an ordinary, happy girl on the surface, but she's still coping with the sudden disappearance of her older sister and role model, Nina. Nina was a carefree kind of person, and sneaking out at night was just the kind of thing she always did. So it wasn't a surprise when she left the house one night. That day, she didn't come back. Two years later, Ellie leaves, too, in search of Nina. She's brought along a boy she met at a party who thinks she has some hope of succeeding. With a picture Nina left behind as a clue, she sets off on a road trip (in the looser sense of the word) on a mission full of surprises to reclaim her lost sister.

Related links:

• Author's website

• Book website