And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman

Publishers Weekly

Sixteen-year-old Cordelia (Delia) Truesdale is forced into the role of private detective when her genius mother, founder of the Internet company TrueTech, disappears on a research trip somewhere between South America and Antarctica. Delia is sent, against her will, from her home in Silicon Valley to Manhattan to live with her dramatic and charming Aunt Charley (“It would be a while before I realized that just about everything Charley did turned out all right,” Delia says). Meanwhile, her uptight Aunt Patience has been left in control of Delia's schooling and social schedule. Despite having her life turned upside down, Delia remains logical, stubborn and focused on proving that her mother is still alive. Delia contacts both a psychic and a private detective as she attempts to solve the mystery and determine the culprit, who could be anyone: her mother's trusted assistant, Thad; oil company executives; or her crush's father. Mystery novelist Sturman's (The Hunt) YA debut treats readers to intrigue and taut dialogue, and while Delia does get some answers, the “to be continued” ending leaves the door wide open for a sequel. Ages 12–up. (July)

Children's Literature

When Delia's mother's research ship goes missing, everyone assumes it sank and that all aboard are dead. Everyone but Delia. Her mother's will is found and immediately implemented, which places Delia on an airplane from Palo Alto to New York to live with an eccentric aunt she has never met and have her academic and social choices made by a different aunt, also previously unknown. Thus, she begins the school year in a snooty private high school. She makes a best friend during the first class period and acquires a boyfriend just as quickly (although the relationship does develop over the course of the story). Delia begins a search for her mother using the Internet. She is aided by the best friend and the boyfriend. In the process, she comes in contact with a psychic who warns her of DANGER, and a private eye who flies to Chile since that is the closest country to where the ship was last seen. Lots of questions are raised and no answers are provided. The book literally ends with "To be continued . . ." So after reading 244 pages, the reader is left up in the air and the book ends. An unsatisfactory conclusion. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.

School Library Journal

Gr 8–10—When Delia Truesdale learns that her mom's expedition ship has vanished somewhere between southern Chile and Antarctica, she alone is certain that her mother is still alive and she's determined to find out what happened. Unfortunately, her research will have to be done far from her Palo Alto home: per her mom's will, Delia will move to New York City to live with an aunt she's never met. Starting her junior year in a strange city is hard enough, but Delia is also trying to decipher garbled messages left on her cell phone and the cryptic notes she grabbed from her mom's files before leaving California. Even with the assistance of a psychic, a private investigator, and two new friends, there's not much to go on—except one lead that points to a conspiracy involving at least two companies, her mom's business partner, and her own crush's dad. All of the major characters have strong, distinct voices, and their actions are realistic and consistent. However, while the mystery of T.K. Truesdale's whereabouts is ultimately solved, there is no satisfying explanation for it, leaving the story feeling unfinished.—Brandy Danner, Wilmington Memorial Library, MA

Kirkus Reviews

Everything unravels for Delia when her mother, T.K., disappears while on an environmental mission. Since everyone assumes T.K. is dead, Delia is shipped from Palo Alto to New York City to live with her aunts, virtual strangers. She adapts to life in New York fairly well, making a good friend and even attracting a hot boy with a dark family secret. On her own, she researches possible reasons for her mother's disappearance, refusing to accept the simple explanations adults give her. What follows is part family drama, part environmental mystery. To find out what happened to her mother, Delia does a little Googling and a lot of relying on a techie friend. Neither the new-girl-in-town nor the disappearance story line is developed very well, though, and the mystery comes to a quick, easy resolution. The secondary teen characters are one-dimensional, and Delia lacks charm. Delia's aunts, however, resemble something out of a Polly Horvath novel, quirky yet good at heart. Ultimately, chick-lit readers will be bored by the mystery, and mystery readers are unlikely to be captured by Delia's story. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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