Things Hoped For - Andrew Clements

I was so excited to discover recently that Andrew Clements had written a follow-up novel to Things Not Seen which is going to be our WOMS ONE Everybody Reads novel (Start digging that $1 in change out from under the couch cushions, by the way. We're collecting beginning next week in homeroom.) This novel takes place a few years after Things Not Seen and is really mostly about Gwen, a young woman who is preparing for auditions to try and get into a prestigious music school for college. Pretty much her hole life is consumed with it - something I can't really imagine. There's never been anything for me that I was SO crazy for that I was willing to practice it 4 or 5 or 6 hours EVERY single day. Or maybe there was nothing I was quite good enough at to warrant it... But in any case, Gwen's good enough and she's passionate enough. She lives in New York with her grandfather where she already goes to a special high school. Her grandfather has created a special sound-proof room for her to practice in and everything. And then one day, right before her auditions, he just disappears. He calls and leaves her a message on the answering machine telling her not to look for him and not to worry. He'll be back as soon as he can, and she should just focus on her practicing. Like that's going to happen. And this is where Bobby comes in. Er, Robert, thank you very much. And together they handle a lot of crazy things, some comical, some creepy, some downright scary. It's a fun, interesting mystery that I would definitely recommend you read right AFTER you read Things Not Seen. I'll be ordering several copies for the library :)