Mystery March – Burning Blue – Paul Griffin

How far would you go for love, beauty, and jealousy?

When Nicole Castro, the most beautiful girl in her wealthy New Jersey high school, is splashed with acid on the left side of her perfect face, the whole world takes notice. But quiet loner Jay Nazarro does more than that–he decides to find out who did it. Jay understands how it feels to be treated like a freak, and he also has a secret: He’s a brilliant hacker. But the deeper he digs, the more danger he’s in–and the more he falls for Nicole. Too bad everyone is turning into a suspect, including Nicole herself.

I read this in a search for a novel for a Year 9 group to study and whilst I don’t plan to cover it in class I will recommend it to my students.  As I was reading I recalled Piccolt’s Nineteen Minutes and felt that elements were similar but at the same time the octracism that Paul and Nicole felt was more harrowing. There is a good mystery and an unexpected twist as Jay tries to find out who splashed acid on the most beautiful girl in school.