Kristin Levine

children's middlegrade (puzzles/mystery, LGBTQAI interest)
mostly told through text messages, phone calls, and video descriptions, this fast-paced mystery provides its characters with some needed time with each other and time to think.

**spoiler alert**
Claudia Dalton's dad mysteriously disappears but it quickly becomes clear that he's just run away, needing time for himself. He sends Claudia a single puzzle piece with a message for her to figure out, leading her on a treasure hunt to (hopefully) get her dad back. Meanwhile her grandfather (her dad's dad, Papa) spends a lot of time with her and gets a chance to know his grandchild the way he wishes he'd gotten to know his son. When Claudia has finally worked her way through all of the clues, it becomes clear that he's gay, and then the family must come together again to talk about it.
This work is fiction, but is inspired by the author's own experiences in having her husband come out as gay.… (mer)