Later, I would think of it as crossing over. From a known territory into an unknown. From a place where people know you to a place where people only think they know you. It began with me a year ago this past July. A few weeks after my fourteenth birthday. When Freaky Green Eyes came into my heart. When her parents separate, Franky Pierson has no trouble deciding whose side she's on. After all, her mother is the one who chose to leave. And when her mother is suddenly reported missing, Franky believes she's simply pulled a disappearing act and deserted their family for good. But a part of Franky, a part she calls Freaky Green Eyes, knows that something is wrong. And it's up to Freaky to open Franky's eyes to the truth. Book jacket. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The daughter of a charismatic football star-turned-sportscaster narrates Oates's (Big Mouth & Ugly Girl) captivating novel, which bears some resemblance to the O.J. Simpson story. Fifteen-year-old Franky narrates and opens with a flashback to a party she attended just after her 14th birthday, "when Freaky Green Eyes came into my heart." This feisty alter-ego emerges when Franky is nearly raped, defends herself, and tells no one about the incident. The quick-thinking survival instincts that "Freaky" embodies, become essential to the narrator's ability to make sense of her world, as her parents' marriage begins to collapse. Franky sides with her father, even though she suspects he is hurting her mother; she blames her mother for "provoking" him, and acts like she doesn't miss her mother when she begins to spend more time away from the family to pursue her art in a small town an hour from their suburban Seattle home. Oates makes manifest the narrator's inner struggle between Franky and Freaky, and paints Franky's father as both magnetic and menacing. Even after her mother and a gay male friend go missing and her father is a key suspect, Franky initially makes a statement on his behalf. But Freaky wins out, making a "Freaky-impulsive" decision that leads her to uncover the truth. The gray Northwest setting provides a fitting parallel to the heroine's life, where facts are often hard to see. Oates builds the mounting tension masterfully, crafting a fast-paced narrative that will haunt readers long after the final page. Ages 14-up. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 7-10. Freaky Green Eyes is the name 15-year-old Franky gives to her stronger self, the part that has to deal with the enigma that is her parents' relationship. With a nod to the O. J. Simpson case, Oates pulls readers into a fast-paced, first-person thriller that begins when Franky's mother, an artist, begins spending alone time at her cabin. It's immediately clear that her situation isn't idyllic; Franky's father, former football hero and popular sportscaster Reid Pierson, is calling the shots as to when his wife can come and go. There's no nuance to Reid's character. He's a charming, controlling bully who rules his family; should his will be thwarted, he gets physical. When Mrs. Pierson and a male friend disappear, there's also no mystery about who's behind the abduction; the clues, if that's what they are meant to be, are awkwardly dropped. Yet what could have been a predictable plot in the hands of a less-experienced writer becomes an absorbing page-turner as Franky slowly lets herself accept the violence that has always been in her family and finds the courage to stand up to her father. IleneCooper. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Joyce Carol Oates is the renowned author of many novels, including Big Mouth & Ugly Girl, her first young adult novel, and Small Avalanches, a collection of short stories for young adults. Her novel Blonde was a National Book Award nominee and New York Times best-seller. A recipient of the National Book Award and the Pen/Malamud Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, Ms. Oates is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

I. Crossing Over	1
II. Missing	193
III. In the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico: December	319

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.