I picked this book up thinking it was a mystery. It isn't (despite what the cover says). It's really a book about how a boy is changed when his best friend, Aaron, is murdered.It's a very moving book in that way. I really felt for the main character, Jeremy, and the whole time I read the book I kept thinking how horrible it is that some people actually have to go through this experience.What made it worse for everyone involved was that it was clear from the get-go that one of Aaron's family members (I won't spoil it by saying which one) is the murderer. Jeremy can't believe that the family member would murder Aaron--although the book mentions that statistically, you're much more likely to be murdered by a family member than you are by a stranger. (That's something to think about the next time you're picking out Christmas presents.)We're never told why the family member killed Aaron, although the characters talk about some different possibilities. The book is very open ended that way. Jeremy can't get closure about this crime, and neither do we, the readers. On one hand, I understand why the author did this--in real life, how do people get closure when their friends are murdered? But it made the book feel incomplete to me. I wanted something more. Still, I can see where this would be a valuable book to start a discussion about the issue of murder.
