"Silence filled up the air and Jennifer stood uncertainly, blinking back the tears, looking around at the trees and the water and the rocks. She saw the cat then, creeping out of the bushes, standing for a moment over the empty tin box. A wild cat. Its bones shining through its thin coat, like a skeleton in the sunlight, raising a single paw and licking it with relish. It was a witness. It had seen everything."

This rather gripping story by Anne Cassidy is told from the perspective of Alice Tully, a 17 year old girl who has all the hope in the world of becoming a normal person, with relationships, jobs, and an education. Only one thing is standing in her way ... her past. When I first picked up this book, I felt as if no other book in this competition could equal or better The Star of Kazan, but I was definitely wrong. This book is what every reader hopes for, a gripping plot, suspense, chilling descriptions, a mysterious overtone, and everything becoming clear in the end. This book definitely left that 'tingling' feeling inside me. In this story, I think that Anne Cassidy has created a masterpiece that shall definitely be remembered as a classic. This book for me has what it takes to go and win the Carnegie Award.

The cover of this novel is not as catchy as many other contending books, with their flashy borders and bumpy covers, but judging a book by its cover is definitely a mistake, proven by this book. Once you have read Looking For JJ, then the cover becomes much more interesting and meaningful. It displays a paper chain of three children, with one child broken off the end, and on its own.

The main plot of this book follows Alice Tully, but often flashes back to a child murder. The flashbacks include Alice's life with her mother, gaining and losing friends, and going on adventures with her doll, Macy. Eventually, this murder takes place, but there are many twists and turns along the way, and I found it hard to guess which child was going to be murdered, so it was not obvious. Readers of this book will discover the horrifying truth of Alice Tully: is she really who you think she is?

Overall, I think this book is very good, and recommend it to the older readers of this competition. This is the best book in the shortlist that I have read so far: 9.2 out of ten for sure.