Picture Unavailable

I just finished Picture Unavailable by Andrew J Brandt and here are my thoughts.

Picture unavailable is what sat in the place of the missing child from the grade 6 yearbook. Strange considering he was there on picture day. Even stranger is Johnny's picture is absent from all the pictures in the year back when he was definitely in those.

Charlie and his gang decide to figure out the mystery of why Johnny had been purged from the yearbook and put it on a podcast. The more charlie digs, the more he realizes that Johnny's disappearance isn't isolate and that their teacher, Mr. Cotter knows more than he is letting on.

Can Charlie and his friends figure out the mystery before one of them goes missing next?
I do not usually dip into the middle grade/YA pool but this book drew me in and I had to give it a go and boy, am I glad I did.
First off, the characters, so charming! I really felt like part of the gang! The author really weaved a clever tale that had me experiencing the whole book like I was there. It was fascinating. It had a total stranger things vibe but kept the whole theme very original which I loved.
The town had some really odd things going on and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. It also struck a chord with me that kids often know more than we give them credit for and have such amazing resilience to the world around them that they don't dismiss things the way we do as adults.
Loved the setting of the book, really loved all the biking they did and how each of the boys were mild rejects but they didn't let it stop them doing what had to be done. They were so brave!
The writing was actually quite brilliant so I know I will seek this author out again.
If you love a little mystery with your middle grade read then this has to be on your list!

5 stars! Pleasantly blown away!