Billy can hear spirits, longs for his absent father, and wants a place to call home.  He must survive a cruel orphanage director, strike breakers at the coal mines and life on the road with the circus before he finds a place to belong.   A great read for late elementary/early middle school.

When Genesis’ father disappears on a routine boating trip, his empty boat is found floating on the lake, but his body is gone.  Genesis doesn’t know what to believe–did he die in an accident, or did he disappear to start a new life, as circulating rumors suggest.  She decides to investigate and in the process of finding the truth, makes peace with her family.  Becquets has written an interesting story, but what I enjoyed most were her descriptions of the northern Maine town where Genesis lives.  Genesis lives in a whole new winter world of snow, ice, car racing on frozen lakes, snowmobiles and logging, and Becquets makes it all come alive.

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