The Noah Confessions

May 28, 2007
Part murder mystery, part family drama, this fast-paced read is the eighth novel by the creator of the now defunct TV series Joan of Arcadia
. For her 16th birthday, Lynnie Russo assumed she’d receive a car, like all the girls at her snooty Los Angeles prep school. So when her father gives her one of her dead mother’s charm bracelets along with a mysterious letter she had written to a man named “Noah” when she was 16 herself, Lynnie is shocked—and sorely disappointed. But she soon realizes that there is more to the gift—and to her family’s history—than she could have imagined. Soon Lynnie discovers that “Noah” is really her father, and as she reads more of her mother’s letter, she is confronted with a grotesque secret: “My grandfather was a murderer. He killed a girl with his bare hands. My mother saw it. She never told anyone. Except Noah.” Hall’s knack for spinning a suspenseful tale is evident; she ably uses both the letter and an extended flashback from Lynnie’s father’s perspective as tools to delve into Lynnie’s psyche and showcase her vulnerability. A few scenes verge on the overly campy (including a dream sequence involving Lynnie and her deceased mother), but readers will gladly gloss over them to get to the good stuff. Ages 12-up.

June 1, 2007
Gr 8 Up-For her 16th birthday, Lynnie expects a car, which is what every girl at her Los Angeles private school gets for that birthday. Instead, she receives something puzzling, though of much greater importance: a charm bracelet that belonged to her deceased mother. Later that day, she ditches school to learn how to surf, and her dad, feeling she is becoming arrogant, gives her a long letter from her mother to a boy called Noah. The teen begins to read about her family's past and learns why she never met her grandparents. Readers will want to find out what is in the letter, but Lynnie keeps putting it down to go about her life. But she soon gets swept up in her mother's secrets and begins to doubt her own future. To prove that she can be as brave as her mom, she goes surfing during a big swell and almost drowns, and the experience leads her to move on, closer to her father and with a new boyfriend. This novel will grab readers' attention with the promise of mysterious revelations by Lynnie's mother, who was a victim of crimes not her own. A solid story, told from three different points of view, that teaches about self-examination and the ability to move away from the past."Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.