West Fargo, ND - The body of missing, Leah Jackson, was discovered late last night on the old Jordaine farm, on County Road 17, north of West Fargo, ND. The office of Kim Vanderhorn, District Attorney, has released a statement indicating foul play is suspected. According to Detective Marcia Grant,lead investigator, there are currently no suspects. More details to come.~ Robert Andrews, Reporter.Detective Marcia Grant never thought much about high school, until the body of missing Leah Jackson is discovered on an abandoned farmstead. The discovery launches Marcia into a world she had left behind years ago; the world where the social ladder must be climbed, or clung to, at all costs; or risk social suicide.Officer Jonathon Drake worked hard ensuring his next step on the professional ladder would be to Detective. He never thought his career would be derailed by a woman. Especially the woman he secretly planned to marry – one day.The holiday season is upon the Midwestern city of West Fargo. The school year is in full swing, when Halloween night, high school sophomore, Leah Jackson, will leave her home for the last time. The gossip mill begins to grind in the school system, the police department, and throughout the metropolitan area.Who killed Leah Jackson? Was it Clyde Jordaine the abusive, alcoholic widower who owns the abandoned farmstead? Was it Sasha Davis the high society girl, and best friend of Leah Jackson, in a move to become Queen Bee of the tenth grade? Was it a Satanic Halloween ritual propagated by Sean Dorian and his minions?As Marcia moves her inexperienced team forward through the investigation, a time bomb is ticking in the city. The tension is running high in the department and in the streets. Caving under the pressure of the investigation, Drake inadvertently lets Marcia know how he feels about her and disappears into the night; igniting suspicious minds within the department.There are no real suspects in the case, only speculation and hearsay. Until a primetime news show develops into a new theory. A new possibility that even Marcia, with her degrees in behavioral science and forensic psychology, had not considered. It wasn’t possible. Or, was it?“Sticks and Bones” promises a journey through the underbelly of the American High School like no other. Love them or hate them. The characters leap off the page, into the memories of the reader, taking on the forms of ghosts from the past. Do you dare journey back to high school? Just one more time? "I don't see many YA crime books around, and this was an absolute delight. A far cry from the good old days of Nancy Drew, we have an intelligent and thrilling read. You treat the violence with care, making it realistic, subtly horrific without painting the scene red, and strong characters make this a brilliant read." ~ A. Knight Writing 'Sticks and Bones' has been a journey unlike any other I have experienced in my lifetime. The project began in 2005, when my three daughters were all in junior high and high school; each of them having their own unique clique of friends. A common, and all too frequent, conversation in our home was the subject of, what they called, "drama"; what we adults call bullying. "Sticks and Bones" was born out of these conversations with approximately 28 teens contributing to the story. Bullying is a significant part of "Sticks and Bones". As you journey through the story, you will discover, as I did, bullies aren't born - they are created. Sometimes, bullies grow up and out of their behavior, sometimes they don't. Sometimes the bullied take their own lives to stop the pain, but sometimes, just sometimes, bullies find other ways to either cope with their pain; or end it once and for all. In writing this, my first novel, I discovered the bullies aren't always found in the hallowed halls of the educational institutions. I discovered, society is filled with bullies from behind the closed doors of our homes, in the workplace, to the halls of our schools. "Sticks and Bones" is dedicated to all the teenagers who feel they are not good enough, strong enough, brave enough, straight enough, or worthy enough to be viewed as human beings. Everything I needed to know I learned in Kindergarten; and so did they. In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~ Albert Schweitzer Donna R. Wood has lived in Fargo, ND for 25 years. She has three grown daughters and two grandchildren. Although she is not Native American, Donna grew up on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, in Western North Dakota, during the 1970s and 80s. She grew up simultaneously immersed in two storytelling cultures - Irish and Native American (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara). Her great-grandparents homesteaded on the banks of the Missouri River at the turn of the century. Donna has been many things in her life; wo