11. Rock Star Superstar

Rock Star Superstar (Blake Nelson, 2004)

I loved Blake Nelson's Girl, and had been meaning to get around to Rock Star Superstar for a while. Nelson stuck with Portland as a setting, but this time around the protagonist is a boy. Pete is really similar to Andrea from Girl. He's not super cool and doesn't seem to understand what's going on around him most of the time and they seem really self-conscious. That aspect of Nelson's characters bugs me because I don't remember being that naive as a teen. Don't we all judge kids through the lense of how we remember ourselves? I do. What Nelson gets so right are teen relationships. The way Pete's relationship with Margaret begins was so familiar to me. You know how you'd just kind of fall into dating somebody because you sat with them on the bus one day, got seated together in class, or even ran into them at the mall? That part of the story seemed really organic.

The big story here is that Pete's a musician, and because his dad is kind of a hands-off parent, can pretty much devote himself completely to music and skate by in school with no plans for college or the future, beyond playing music. I thought the local-band-makes-good story would be unrealistic, but it worked for me. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by telling you that Pete doesn't get famous by the end of the book, which kept the story grounded in reality. I think this book would appeal to both boys and girls equally. If I was a youth librarian, I'd probably try to sell Girl to a boy if he liked this one. I'll have to check out The New Rules of High School, Nelson's latest.

10. Homicide My Own

Homicide My Own (Anne Argula, 2005)

I went to lunch with a colleague yesterday and, as tends to be the case among librarians, the conversation turned to books. We both read mysteries and were talking about what we like and don't like in a mystery. Neither of us are keen on supernatural elements and would prefer a good nior detective or fiesty female sleuth. It figures that of the two books I read last night, the second made me reevaluate my stance a little.

Homicide My Own follows a pair of Spokane cops to Salish Island to appprehend a bail-jumper. Quinn, the older, female half of the duo narrates the story. I wasn't prepared for Odd, her young, male partner to start channelling a long-dead island resident, but it worked. The two go about solving the cold case, and hijinks ensue. The books isn't perfect and Quinn uses some really irritating slang terms--maybe they're supposed to be Pennsylvanian, maybe they're just made up--and I can't completely fall in love with any character who doesn't like music, but I can truly say this is one of the most original mysteries I've ever encountered. It's offbeat, but not self-consciously so. In fact, I kept thinking it is surprisingly solid for a first book, but just discovered that it isn't: Anne Argula is a pseudonym.

9. Into the Inferno

Into the Inferno (Earl Emerson, 2003)

This is another stand-alone from Emerson. What made this stand out for me is that the mystery doesn't center around a fire, even though it centers around fire fighters. That's not to say there aren't some great fire scenes, of course. Without giving too much away, I will say that Jim Swope, a lieutenant in the North Bend Fire Department, uncovers a vast conspiracy. Six months after working a chain-reaction accident, four of the responders are dead or brain-dead and Swope finds out he likely has six days to live--and solve the mystery of what's killing the fire fighters. Into the Inferno had me hooked from page one and I read it straight through. Emerson has written about twenty books and, unlike some prolific mystery writers, hasn't started repeating himself.

8. Dying for a Blue Plate Special

Dying for a Blue Plate Special (Beth Kalikoff, 2005)

I'm rolling right along with the PNW mysteries. This one was written by a member of the University of Washington Tacoma faculty. I thought I'd read this when it came out a couple of years ago, but if I did I forgot the whole story. I have to love any story that's affectionate instead of snarky about Tacoma, a city I really like. I really hope Kalikoff writes more mysteries because this one blends two tropes I enjoy: the snarky amateur sleuths and parody of academic culture. This morning I had to read the last two chapters before work, even though that set me behind schedule by 30 minutes. Read this one.

7. Miss Zukas and the Library Murders

Miss Zukas and the Library Murders (Jo Dereske, 1994)

Am I the last librarian to hear about the Miss Zukas mystery series? I'm doubly surprised I didn't know about it because of my PNW mystery fetish. I decided to read these in order, which is part of the fun of discovering a series when it's been out for a while. I didn't think I'd like this book at all for the first chapter or two, but it got better. Librarian stereotypes don't really bother me too much, but Helma Zukas got on my nerves, probably because she's supposed to be in her thirties and acts like she's in her sixties. However, the mystery was suspensful enough and the characters interesting enough to keep me reading. It was cool to recognize the thinly-veiled Bellingham, where I lived for a time when I was little.