CAROLINE B COONEY!!!!!

She's one of my favorite suspense/teen/thriller authors, and she is AMAZING. She wrote The Face on the Milk Carton and other bestsellers... welcoming Caroline B. Cooney!
And thank George's holy ear (HP humor) that I finally got to read her newest book, Diamonds in the Shadow. It looked kind of boring from the summary, but I loved it.
The summary? This naive, ignorant white American family takes in a family of four war refugees from Africa that have seen horrific things... and in some cases, committed horrific crimes. The white family consists of the mother, Mrs. Finch, who is on practically every church committee known to man and does her best to help but sometimes smothers, the father, Mr. Finch, who is almost a minor character because he's almost never home and when he is he doesn't say much, Mopsy, the middle-school daughter who goes by Mopsy instead of Martha and is unusually naive for her age, seeing good everywhere she goes, and Jared, the selfish high-school brat of a son. The African refugee family is made up of Mattu, the "son" who has a clean British accent and is very smart and ambitious, Celestine, the "mother" who is amazed by all the new American appliances but seems to be hiding a deep sorrow somewhere under her curious and joyful disposition, the "father" Andre, who has no hands due to the fact that they were cut off by soldiers and now he has the huge problem of having very specific job requirements, and the daughter, Alake. Alake does not talk, but unlike Mr. Finch, she is not a minor character. In fact, she is almost the centrivigal force to this whole story, tying everything together and keeping the storyline running steady. And then there's the mysterious fifth refugee.
Yes, this story was really freakin' good. I'm so glad I read it, even though it took me a week with everything else going on, but I read, I loved, I want her to write more, darn it!
I loved how the story is told from everybody's point of view, showing how new simple concepts like a microwave and opening a juice carton can be mysteries to somebody from a wartorn world. There were also many good observations pointed out about how we as Americans act, which can change the way you think. I know I think of America as a much different place after reading this book. It was really interesting how the author worked that in through such a short, complex, really-completely-awesome book. Because on the thriller front, it was pretty compelling, you just had to keep reading.♠♠♠♠