Once Was Lost, by Sara Zarr

In the sleepy little town of Pineview, California, there's a crisis brewing. Fifteen year old Samara Taylor's mother is in court-ordered rehab for her drinking problems, and her father, a local pastor, is having problems dealing with it. "Sam," as everyone calls her, is also having a crisis of faith. As she puts it: "I don't know when God stopped being someone I saw as my true friend, and turned into something I'm mostly confused about." With the summer heat beating down on the town, and with both her home's air conditioning AND her bedroom fan broken, it promises to be a miserable time for Sam.

And then one day, watching the news, she catches part of a local newscast. Something horrible, unimaginable has just happened. Young Jodi Shaw, a young member of her church, has just been abducted!

Zarr does an excellent job creating believable characters and she provides a tense plot line. I thought it was a bit strange to try and weave a romance into the story, but then again it adds a nice spice to her story! ~ Robbie