Galloway, Gregory.
AS SIMPLE AS SNOW
New York : Putnam's, 2005
IL AD
ISBN 978-0399152313

“GG” describes himself as dull, uninteresting…as plain as milk…plainer, even, since milk at least has color. He is water, both dull and invisible. That is, until he meets Anna. With her Goth clothes, eccentric tastes, and mysterious persona, Anna gives GG’s life more color and flavor than he could have imagined. She is adventurous and creative, loves games and puzzles, and delights in creating mysteries. 

But the greatest mystery of all is Anna herself. She has friends, but enemies lurk in the shadows. She seems forthright and honest, but clearly has some secrets. Her favorite pastime is writing imaginary obituaries for everyone in town. But some of them expose haunting secrets about their subjects, things that only someone close to the deceased could know…things that the subject would probably rather keep secret. 

Then, just when Anna has “killed” the last person in town, she disappears, gone from the pages of the book and from GG’s life. The only apparent clue is her dress, found carefully arranged next to a hole in an ice-covered river. But other clues abound, in the labyrinth of games and puzzles she devised for GG, in her cryptic comments, in her frequent references to obscure literary and historic events. Readers who can’t figure out what happened to Anna can visit the book’s website and sign up to receive further clues by email.

There’s nothing simple about snow, and there’s nothing simple about this mystery. What happened to Anna? Was it murder? Suicide? An accident? Or did she just run away? Read As Simple as Snow and join GG’s search for the truth. 
(Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers, 2007-2008)