Right Behind You, by Gail Giles

When he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret. How can Kip tell anyone that he really is--or was--a murderer?

Ok..I love Giles’ books. And SOOO many of my kiddos fight for her books—to read over and over again. Having been a high school teacher, she obviously knows that to write to hook readers of every sort.

And I loved this book. I read it in a day, less really. Giles’ books are always good for the reluctant reader, they don’t take long to get through AND you don’t want to put them down. Her characters are real, her settings are REAL, the things going on inside the heads of even the characters who are secondary—but I gotta tell you, few of these characters were REALLY secondary.

The only thing that got me? There was hope at the end—freakin’ hope! What’s that about???