Looking for La Unica

Monica is looking forward to a quiet end of the summer on Lucia Street. She's even beginning to accept her neighborhood and get accustomed to the view from her porch--a street lined with run-down houses, tall skinny palms, and here and there, a gnarled pepper tree. When she sets out one late summer morning amid kids playing baseball and neighbors calling out to her in Spanish, she does not expect the tantalizing mystery that awaits her. While visiting a local guitar shop, Monica overhears a heated argument between father and son. They have lost La Unica, a precious family heirloom that should never have been sold. Suddenly, Monica finds herself fingered as the chief suspect. Once again, popular young adult author Ofelia Dumas Lachtman draws a smart and sly corps of young characters: Toni, Monica's fast-talking Dr. Watson; a handsome love interest who has a penchant for thievery; a suspicious jock from the right side of town; and a dutiful son who will do anything to claim his family's inheritance. With illustrations by Pauline Rodriguez-Howard, this sequel to The Summer of El Pintor serves up an engaging mystery with a slice of teenage life. Blending a puzzling mystery with the ordinary trials of adolescence, this extraordinary novel for young adults will keep readers guessing.