Frank Carlson Library

Sally Solari quits her job as an attorney to help her recently widowed father run his restaurant. When her aunt is found murdered and her sous chef is the prime suspect, Sally is determined to clear his name and find the real murderer.

Both sixteen-year-old Chloe Montgomery and her long time rival, Nina, have made it through the first round of the California Teen Design Diva audition--but more rounds lie ahead and each round promises to be more challenging than the one before.

"Santa Cruz restaurateur Sally Solari's life is already boiling over as she deals with irate cooks and other staffing issues at the busy Gauguin restaurant. The rainy December weather isn't cooling things down, either. So she's steamed when her dad persuades her to take in Evelyn, her estranged blind cousin whose mother has just died of a drug overdose. But Evelyn proves to be lots of fun and she's a terrific cook. Back at the house she'd shared...

Her summer internship in New York City over Chloe is back in Santa Cruz, now a senior in high school and fretting over where to apply to college, and she is having a little trouble reconnecting with her old friends--until a new girl, Jada, suggests that Chloe and old rival Nina should design all the girls dresses for the winter formal dance.

The designs for her college applications are due, and the Winter Formal designs for the girls in her class are almost done, and now there is nothing to do but wait and see which of the three colleges, FIDM, Parsons, or FIT, she is accepted to--and then decide whether her future is in Los Angeles or New York.

Senior year is full of surprises when Chloe returns home from her internship in New York City. While she was learning the ins and outs of the fashion industry, her friends were getting ready for senior year. Settling back into her old life proves to be harder than Chloe thought. As much as she tries to fall into her old routine, she can't help feeling left out and left behind. Chloe is ready to realize her dream of being a designer, but deciding on...