Defender by Graham McNamee

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Defender by Graham McNamee is just what I'm looking for to hook my seventh-graders! It takes less than 15 pages (of quick-paced writing) to get to the DISCOVERY OF THE DEAD BODY IN THE BASEMENT! I mean, what more can a girl ask for? 

Tyne (aka "Tiny") lives in a Toronto apartment building where her father is the super. As the oldest, Tiny does odd jobs around the building to help out. After the discovery of a dead body in the basement, Tiny runs to her dad, who goes to check it out alone, only to return to tell Tiny that there was no body to be found. However, when Tiny's dad starts acting suspiciously, she and her boyfriend Ricky (aka "Stick") start tracking clues, including going back to the scene to discover A FINGER!! 

It's so great. This would have been on the shelf of my tween bookcase next to R.L. Stine's Fear Street Saga and my Christopher Pike books. So thankful to have discovered this at my public library! Buying a copy to book talk when school starts!