"Dani Noir" by Nova Ren Suma

Eva (of Coffee, Classics, and Craziness) recommended this to me a few weeks ago, since we share a love of film noir and YA fiction.  Dani Noir is about thirteen-year-old Danielle, or Dani, whose parents are newly divorced, who hates being stuck in a small town with no cell phone reception, and who seeks refuge in the local art-house theater that is showing classic noir films all summer long.  She tries to do a little detective work like what she sees onscreen to figure out if someone is two-timing her erstwhile babysitter.  She tries to come to grips with the fact that her father is remarrying.  And she learns a lot of lessons about love, friendship, and telling the truth.

This is a fast-paced book, and while my library has it in the young adult section, I feel like it's really more middle-grade level, aimed at tweens.  The characters are engaging and layered, and I enjoyed the book overall.  My favorite part was definitely all the detail about film noir and the ways Dani tried to make sense of her own troubles by comparing them to things she saw onscreen.  Reminds me a lot of myself as a teen, though I was more like sixteen or seventeen when I discovered noir.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG.  No bad language or questionable scenes, but a lot of discussion of parents divorcing because one had an affair that would upset some kids.