Let me say upfront that this is an excellent choice for any library, public or school, where fiction that addresses the toxicity of bullying and/or gender issues is important. This book covers both while wrapping an intriguing story around them. Many will figure out what both Aubrey and Joel are hiding/afraid to tell each other early on, but that hardly matters. They've been best friends for years, but now that they're at the end of sixth grade, things are changing and neither feels like they have any control.
Aubrey was too intimidated to speak out when another boy continually bullied Joel, with the words and actions getting more hostile and vile as the year progressed. The school administration resorted to mild verbal hand slaps and platitudes, leading both kids feeling like they're not safe.
One way they deal with the hostile school environment is by skipping school and roaming through the woods behind it, playing imaginary games and crafting a running away plan. Aubrey doesn't think either of them will ever implement it until the night they have an argument during their first camp out of the summer. The next morning, Joel is gone.
While Aubrey thinks she knows where Joel went, her own secret and what they said to each other that night freezes her, making her unable to tell her parents, Joel's mom, or the local law enforcement officers what she thinks Joel has done. It's that combination of guilt and worry that causes her to coerce her older sister and Mari, the only friend she shares with Joel, to search for clues supporting her suspicion. That leads the trio on quite an adventure. Anyone liking issue oriented fiction mixed with adventure and the gradual revelation of secrets, will devour this one. ( )