True Blue by Deborah Ellis is about best friends Casey and Jess and their truly horrific ordeal that resulted after one of the campers they were responsible for goes missing and is found dead. Casey is arrested and accused of murder. Jess doesn't know how to react nor what to do. She knows more than she's sharing but for some reason can't bring herself to talk. In the mean time, her emotionally unstable mother is spiraling into another one of her collapses which typically end in hospitalization and electroshock therapy. The rest of the people in town have already decided Casey is guilty and are terrorizing her family. And, the very group of popular kids at their school who used to shun them is inviting Jess to spend more and more time with them. As the days lead up to the trial, only a few people (Jess's mother, Casey's parents, and a sympathetic teacher) are still convinced of Casey's innocence. Even Jess begins to waver in her thoughts about what her best friend might be capable of.
This was a thrilling mystery! I couldn't put it down! It is told through Jess's perspective, in both narration and through her camp journal, chronicling the events leading up to the little girl's ultimate disappearance and murder. Parts of this book reminded me of Mary Downing Hahn's Wait Till Helen Comes, because the character of the little girl (Stephanie) who was killed is so obnoxious and annoying! As a reader, you feel terrible that you don't like her simply because you know she's going to die eventually! I also really liked the way the author showed the changing relationship/friendship between the girls. The ending is unexpected and the character who changes most as a result of this terrible experience isn't who you would think. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery or suspense story.
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