The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

From the publisher:

Girls started vanishing in the fall.

For Maggie Larsen, the town of Gill Creek is only a stopgap before college and freedom. Until she meets Pauline and Liam. What starts as an uneventful year suddenly changes. Someone is killing teenage girls, and the town reels from the tragedy. As Maggie's and Pauline's worlds collide and change around them, they will both experience love and loss. And by the end of the book...

This page turner had me guessing until the end exactly what was going on in this little town.  The story revolves around the three teens mentioned above--Maggie, Pauline and Liam; however, we also get to hear from a ghost who lived in the house where Maggie has moved into.  Why is the ghost there?  How does it link to the story?  I had my guesses, but Anderson did a wonderful job of telling the story and letting me try to figure it out.  I highly recommend this one.  You will not be disappointed.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Publisher's abstract:
Thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle is excited to return home from her school in England to her family in Rhode Island in the summer of 1832. But when the two families she was supposed to travel with mysteriously cancel their trips, Charlotte finds herself the lone passenger on a long sea voyage with a cruel captain and a mutinous crew. Worse yet, soon after stepping aboard the ship, she becomes enmeshed in a conflict between them! What begins as an eagerly anticipated ocean crossing turns into a harrowing journey, where Charlotte gains a villainous enemy . . . and is put on trial for murder!

This book has been around for a very long time, but somehow I had not read it.  I decided it was time to change that and read the book.  I am so thankful that I did.  This is a historical fiction pageturner. 
Charlotte is only 13 years old, but her father holds a high position in the company that owns the ship on which she is traveling.  The crew is very glad that she is on board because they need a credible witness, but a witness to what exactly she is not quite sure.  I highly recommend this novel even though the cover is less than appealing.  We definitely have to look past the cover to get to this great read.