Bull's Eye by Sarah Harvey

I love Sarah Harvey.  For one thing, she's an amazing writer, and for another, she's incredibly prolific.  In fact, I can't seem to keep up with her.  I thought I'd read most of her books, and then the other day I came across Bull's Eye, a young adult high interest novel for reluctant readers that I couldn't put down.  Harvey has a hook-you-from-the-get-go style that doesn't let up.  Listen to the opening line..."I'm the only one home when the UPS guy delivers the package that blows up my life."

See what I mean!  And, the package in question has nothing to do with real bombs, at least not of the 9/11 sort.  The explosion that rocks Emily's world is an emotional one; and once it goes off, it sends both her and her mother reeling.  The package contains the truth about Emily's real mother, now dead of a drug overdose.  Everything the "un-mom" has told Emily is a lie.  Emily has to get away.  She has to find out who her father is.  It doesn't take long to track him down, but she's too late by a year having been killed by a drunk driver.  Emily returns home but finds herself lashing out but she gets caught before things escalate too far.  She's fortunate enough to be sentenced under the restorative justice model; counseling once a week and community service twice a week at an after school daycare.  This is where she meets a 7-year-old April who helps her discover that family isn't all about biology.

Bulls Eye is a quick read, but like most of the other books from The Sounding Series, it's well worth the 100 or so pages and hour or two of your time.