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For the past eleven years, 14-year-old Raphael Fernández has spent his days picking through trash at the Behala dumpsite.  It's a stinky, smelly job.  A dangerous one, too.  If Raphael places his bare foot in the wrong spot, he could sink under the mounds of garbage and suffocate.  Or step on a dirty needle.  Or burst open a bag of stuppa (poop).  It's all happened to other trash boys.  Given a choice, Raphael would leave the reeking trash heaps far, far behind.  But he doesn't, so day after day, he crawls through piles of refuse, hoping to find something—plastic, metal, glass, clean paper, rubber, etc.—that can be traded for cash, which he can use to buy food for himself and his family.  

Then, one ordinary day, Raphael does find something.  Something that's not only mysterious, but also valuable.  So valuable, in fact, that the police are going to great lengths to find it.  Raphael knows he should turn over his find, but he can't quite make himself part with it.  If he can solve the treasure's riddles, he can get enough money to free himself, his family and his friends from a lifetime of trudging through garbage just to survive.  With the police on his trail, Raphael doesn't have much time, but he has to try.  It's the only chance he'll ever have to rise out of the desperate poverty that drags him down.  Racing against time and imminent capture, Raphael and two of his comrades embark on a frantic journey to find a treasure that can save them all.  If only they can survive long enough to enjoy it.

Although the squalor Andy Mulligan describes in his upper middle grade novel, Trash, seems like pure fiction, it's not.  It's a scene the author witnesses for himself every day.  Behala, itself, is a made-up dumpsite, but it's based on a real one in Manila, which sits next to the school where Mulligan teaches.  Makeshift homes really do rim the garbage dump.  Their occupants, says the writer, "really aren't extras in a movie, these people really are living there forever, sorting out the stuff that I put down my rubbish chute."  It's unfathomable, but reality for many in The Philippines and other countries in the developing world.  The book's thrilling plot and colorful characters, though, came straight out of Mulligan's imagination.  Those elements, coupled with the dramatic setting, make for an intense, exciting story that tugs at the heartstrings while celebrating courage and hope.  It's not an easy read, but it is a compelling and affecting one.  About a month has passed since I finished Trash and let me tell you, Raphael and his buddies are still very much on my mind.  That's how deep of an impression this novel makes.  Two words:  Read it.

But, first, watch this:

    

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of The Rent Collector by Camron Wright)

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If this were a movie, it would be rated:

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note:  While this review will not contain spoilers for Bones of the Lost, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from previous Temperance Brennan novels.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Bad days are par for the course when your career revolves around the commission of violent crimes.  And Tempe Brennan, North Carolina's most renowned forensic anthropologist, is having a doozy.  It begins with an embarrassing incident at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse and ends with a young woman's battered body lying in the morgue.  Tempe's assignment: find out who murdered girl.  The only real clue is an ID card in the victim's purse, which belongs to a local businessman.  The man would naturally be considered a suspect—if he hadn't perished a few months earlier in a deadly fire.  Coincidence?  Or, are the two incidents linked somehow?

In the middle of trying to ascertain the dead girl's identity, another mystery lands in Tempe's lab.  This time, it's a pack of mummified dogs confiscated by U.S. Customs.  The accused smuggler is Dominick Rockett, a veteran of Desert Storm.  Is the soldier guilty?  Does his alleged crime have anything to do with the other deaths Tempe's investigating?  Curiouser and curiouser.  

To add to the work stress, Tempe's got mounting personal problems:  her ex-husband's tired of waiting for divorce papers; her grieving daughter's on active duty in Afghanistan; and she hasn't heard from Ryan in way, way too long.  

With such a massive load on her shoulders, how will the intrepid anthropologist deal?  Especially since, once again, her investigations are angering some dangerous people.  People who will stop at nothing until it's Tempe Brennan's cold, lifeless body that's lying in the morgue.  

Bones of the Lost (available August 27, 2013), the 16th installment in Kathy Reichs' popular Temperance Brennan series, offers another exciting adventure starring everyone's favorite forensic anthropologist.  Tempe's always relatable, always a compelling narrator.  I seriously love her more with each book.  As disturbing as the subject matter (human trafficking) of Bones of the Lost is, I enjoyed it for the same reasons I like all of the novels in this series—they're fast-paced puzzles populated with colorful characters, fascinating science (an oxymoron, I've always thought), and enough plot twists and turns to keep me guessing.  While this one isn't the absolute best Tempe Brennan book, it's another solid addition to this series, which continues to be one of my very favorites.  

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs [Deja Dead; Death du Jour; Deadly Decisions; Fatal Voyage; Grave Secrets; Bare Bones; Monday Mourning; Cross Bones; Break No Bones; Bones to Ashes; Devil Bones; 206 Bones; Spider Bones; Flash and Bones; Bones Are Forever and the new novella, Bones in Her Pocket])

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When things go haywire in Willow Chance's life, the 12-year-old soothes herself with numbers.  Something about counting by 7s just makes things all better.  The routine never fails—it always calms Willow, restoring order to her topsy-turvy world.  But when her adoptive parents die in a car accident, numbers can't ease her pain.  Nothing can.  The fact is, she's completely alone in the world.  No friends.  No family.  No comforting ritual to make her troubles disappear.

Willow's taken in by a Vietnamese family, a situation she knows can only be temporary.  The Nguyens are already squatting in a cramped garage with no bathroom and little ventilation.  Despite their kindness, Willow knows it's only a matter of time before she's thrown into foster care.  She can't stand the thought, but it's her only option.  Unless she can somehow convince Dell Duke, her crusty, unhelpful guidance counselor to take a chance on a strange, grieving girl.  He despises children in general, misfits in particular, so he's about the unlikeliest savior in Willow's world.  And yet, he's her only chance.  Can Willow persuade him to do the unthinkable?  Can she put the shattered pieces of her life back together again?  Or will her grief swallow her whole?

Counting by 7s (available August 29, 2013), a middle grade novel by Holly Goldberg Sloan, is a strange little story about an even stranger little girl.  Willow's a sympathetic character, of course, as any twice-orphaned child would be.  It's easy to root for her, even if her circumstances are just plain weird.  The subterfuge Willow goes through in order to evade the wrath of Child Protective Services is hardly believable, which makes the tale a little difficult to digest.  Still, Counting by 7s teaches some important lessons about triumphing over tragedy, finding hope even in your darkest hours and, mostly, about the true meaning of family.  The story's definitely a little odd, but it's also uplifting and hopeful.  I didn't love it, but it's still a decent read.  

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't really think of anything.  You?)

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