Show Me the Evidence

by Alane Ferguson

When her best friend, Janaan, is accused of murdering her own baby brother and two other babies, Lauren, convinced of her friend's innocence, joins her in trying to solve the mystery and find evidence to clear her name

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Alane Ferguson was born in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1957. She attended the University of Utah and Westminster College where she studied journalism. Later, Alane became interested in writing for children, mostly, she says, to follow the example of her mother, successful author Gloria Skurzynski. Her mother has written over fifty-seven books for children, while Alane is currently completing her thirty-second. Alane and her mother co-authored a series for National Geographic. Their novel, WOLF STALKER, was the first work of fiction National Geographic had published in its as of then 109 year history. WOLF STALKER was nominated for the 1998 Mystery Writer's of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award and the newest and 13th book in the series, NIGHT OF THE BLACK BEAR, was launched in spring of 2007. A recipient of the 1990 Edgar Allan Poe Award as well as the Belgium's Children's Choice Award for her young adult novel SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE, Alane was also a nominee for her third young-adult mystery, POISON. She received a 2007 Edgar nomination for her young adult novel, THE CHRISTOPHER KILLER, the first in the Sleuth Forensic Mystery series. Alane won the Children's Crown Classic Award for CRICKET ANDTHE CRACKERBOX KID, the American Bookseller's Association's "Pick of the List" for her picture book entitled THAT NEW PET, and has been on numerous ALA Recommended Books for Reluctant Young Readers and Young Adult's Choice list.

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this paperback at a public library book sale for $0.25 so I wasn’t expecting much tbh, BUT it honestly blew me away. There was so much going on under 200 small pages. Although it was a quick, short read, the suspense was there and the storyline flowed very well (as well as teenage characters can be).

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this!
Has a great mystery and a great cover.

[07rosalynr]

This book was really good! Not one of the best I've read, but it was really good! The book is called show me the evidence because no one knows if the girl is guilty or not. She touched 3 babies. After she touched them, they all died. Did she do something to them? Did this just happen by accident? Was it just a coincidence? The book starts off having two girls. They're best friends. Then one of them finds out the other one ruins a picture of them? Why? She's jealous. Of her good looks, family, past boyfriends, everything a girl would be jealous of her best friend for! These girls go and baby sit a friends daughter. Named Rachel. Little Rachel reminded one of the girls of her little brother. Who died while she was baby sitting him. Also another child she babysat and died. Now she has to babysit one that reminds her of the horror of other dead babies. She goes outside and plays with Rachel and then some psycho lady tried to take it! Her husband in the car tell her she just has problems and won't be bothered ever again. The girl is shocked. Runs back to the house and then they put the baby back to bed. They go check on her, and she's not breather. Paramedics come and havoc happens! She's blamed for this. Everyone thinks it was her. Except her best friend. She has her doubts, but who wouldn't? You never know if your best friend is a killer. She touched 3 babies. No fingerprints or anything of the source. Then they try to figure it out. The man who they met up earlier. The husband of the crazy lady. He finds them in a graveyard trying to look for the babies. Because the bodies were missing! Then he holds up a knife and says, "Say anything or scream, and your friends throat will get slit." He takes them to his apartment. Tells them to take their clothes off. He ties them to a chair and tells them his evil plan. He has a powder stuff to make the babies seem like they're dead, but they aren't. He takes the bodies and sells them to other families and makes a fortune. He tried to put this powder stuff which comes from puffer fishes. It freezes them for a good amount of time until he can get the babies. He's trying to put the powder stuff on them and then is going to drown him. While walking over with the pot of powder, the girl kicks it. It's all over him and he's almost dead. Cops come to save them. The girl gets his little brother back and everything is back to normal. Amazing plot, good ending, the story's great! Couldn't believe it! I knew all along she didn't do it.

[Sara Jordahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I rented over and over again in middle school and only got past the part where they find the baby Rachael dead, I never got any further. Then in my adult years it bothered me what book this was and I could remember any details about it. Facebook helped me find it and I read it in one sitting. It was a very good store read but the ending didn't hold up to par and it ended quickly. I'm just glad I got my hands on the book again and finally read the whole thing.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorites from my teenage years and it is still so good.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember LOVING this book as a kid so I had to read it with Eden. I loved it all over again and so did Eden.

[Bel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this book as a child—it was the very first book I read and loved. 🩷This book sparked something in me—a love for reading, for mysteries, for stories that make you think.🔎 I’ll always have a soft spot for it.

[MacKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who has any knowledge or background in basic law, knows that in proving innocence or guilt, evidence is key--but what if there isn’t any? Lauren Taylor lives this problem when her dearest friend, Janaan Kashad, whom she knows is innocent, is suspected of murder. This gut-wrenching, fast-paced, mystery novel will leave any suspense lover hanging on every word of Alane Ferguson’s Show Me the Evidence.

If you had to describe your best friend with one word I’m fairly certain the word “killer” would not be the first thing that comes to mind, but for Lauren Taylor, there is that possibility. Her friend, Janaan Kashad, for most of her life, was nothing more than an intelligently charming, American high schooler to most of her coastal city community, but when the police are tipped with her being the connection of three infant deaths, Janaan becomes a suspect of murder. The babies are said to have died of sudden infant death syndrome, or crib death, meaning it was merely an accident, but it just so happens that Janaan had been in contact with each of the three babies the day that they died. Coincidence? Not according to the police and most of her town. Based on nothing but their biased opinions, the entire city begins to question the innocence of this high school senior. The biggest flaw in this seemingly perfect theory is there is absolutely no evidence, that proves Janaan guilty--or innocent. In order to keep Janaan out of jail, she and Lauren race to find evidence proving her innocence while the police, with just as much drive, search for evidence to prove Janaan guilty of murder.

What the friends discover on this secret filled journey, is unimaginable.

Lauren and Janaan, though characters with extremely different personalities, are both relatable. Lauren the more playful, friendly, and flirtatious of the two, seems to demonstrate the lighter side of any personality and gives off a happier, warmer vibe. Janaan, my personal favorite, is more on the sarcastic, edgy, darker side of the personality spectrum and illustrates the opposite, colder side of the range. Either way, the reader can find a little bit of themselves in each of the depth filled characters in Show Me the Evidence, contributing to the terrific, personal experience the book has to offer.

Alane Ferguson’s Show Me the Evidence is packed with cliff-hanging suspense from the first page to the very last. The relational tension between Lauren and Janaan stirs up a little extra drama and all of the many casualties in the girls’ plan adds to the apprehension. Anyone who likes a good mystery with a horrific twist would absolutely devour this fast-paced book.

Alane Ferguson’s fantastic first novel is magically mysterious. Don’t believe me? All the proof you need can be found on the pages of Show Me the Evidence.

[06rebeccav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Show Me The Evidence By Alane Ferguson. Pg:164 Year:1989

Do you like a mystery that curdles your very blood and drops you back into a trance of what if?? Do you like a spliting story how it could go ethier way?? This book is for anyone and everyone who answered yes to one or both those questions. 'Don't judge and trust only those who can be trusted' is the very motto of this exicting tale. In a rural area not far from here lived to every bright and happy girls...for the most part. Poor Janaan, slimand darken hair, has lost here brother six months before the really bad stuff begins happening. Lauren, a beach blonde, is determined to find the evidence to prove something about her friend(Janaan)good or...bad.
The two girls find themsevles in a trap between did or didn't. They are curios about the oddest things that have been happening. When Janaaan finds herself in alot more trouble than she reilized, she asks Lauren to help her out. But this desion could lead them into a life or death situation.
I have to say i was a little iffy about it at first but then i really enjoyed it. i enjoyed a part of the story on page 15 when Lauren says "You're my mother.God pays you to saythings like that". I found tha rather funny. I liked also how you leatn something in the book. like on pages 149 to 150 a man says " I make powerful medicine,from simple fish, that will turn you as if dead". That put me on the edge of my seat. but it also said that you could make medicine out of fish i found that very intresting.
"Trust in your friends and they will trust in you." A simple saying that could have a thousnad different meanings and a lot of encouragement. you must trust to gain trust, you must gain trust to give trust. in other words this whole book was about trust in friends.
I would recommed this book to anyone but truely my friend. she loves mysteries and adventure so how could she say NO! Itt does have its differnces though, like babies dieing but it is still a good book!

[Brooklyn Bartlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lauren is a young girl with a great life; her best friend Janaan on the other hand has a difficult life. Janaan's father is extremely strict about his religion and about Janaan. Not to mention Janaan's baby brother Adam died of crib death the previous year. Although Janaan has a hard life Lauren has never heard her crie.
Things are starting to get strange when a young girl they babysit named Rachel also dies of crib death and a young baby in the grocery store. Janaan was around all of the babie's the day they died, but it couldn't possibly be her. Could it?
This was a interesting book; I had a difficult time just putting it down. My mom would say "Brooklyn its bedtime." I would beg her if I could read just one more chapter.
The only part I disliked was the end it was hard to understand who did what and the relationships between the characters. If I better understood that I probably would have liked the book better.
I felt as though I could feel Janaan and Lauren's emotions. Anger, Sadness, Confusion whatever it was I could sense it.
I personally loved the processes Janaan did this then Lauren did that it was a real jump outta your seat kind of book. The forensic side seemed so real you could tell there was a problem; but you don't quite sense it until the middle/end of the book.
Alane Ferguson's book "show me the evidence" has got to be one of the best book's I have ever read. I defiinitly recommend it to pre-teens/young adults.

[07shaem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever been babysitting, and the baby’s you are sitting die (or as you think). Well this book is about a teenager named Lauren and her friend named Janaan who is babysitting a baby, and they went to check the baby and it was dead.
The first baby was named Rachel bloom and she liked to be outside a lot. Lauren and Janaan were outside with Rachel when a person walked by so they stopped and talked for a while. It was time for Rachel’s nap so they went inside. Lauren went to put Rachel down, an hour later Lauren went to check on Rachel and found her dead. The second baby was Adam the same thing happened to him. He went for his nap slept for an hour, he was checked on and bam! he was dead. The last baby was named Kevin he was eating, played for a bit, slept and he was dead as well.
The weird thing to me is that all the babies cribs were by windows and on the first floor of the house, while Lauren and Janaan were down stairs.
In the end the babies were poisoned and were all alive so it was a very happy ending for everyone. Now we know never put your babies crib by a window on the first floor of the house.

[Lisa Glad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This came about from Corianne asking me, as a librarian, to track down a book she remembered reading maybe in 5th or 6th grade (and she remembered almost all of the class read it): she remembered the main character had a friend whose baby brother died and somehow they ended up investigating a child trafficking ring where babies were drugged and families told that they had died, due to religious reasons had to be buried the same day, then someone dug them up (because they weren't really dead) and sold them to families desperate to adopt. This request stumped my cadre of reference librarian friends! Corianne herself came up with the title through remembering a different book by the same author that had a character named Taffy. Somehow "Taffy" investigation led her to the author, which led to this book. I had to request it through Inter-Library Loan so she could re-read it (and I had to read it, too). We all really wondered if this would ACTUALLY have been recommended for an elementary school class to read!

It was an interesting story, the author's first, with some plot holes, but I was glad to read it to satisfy my curiosity.

[Taylor Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

3/20/24-Update
Yes! This is the book. It went by much faster, and I kind of miss how long it took in elementary school, the perfect suspense. However, just knowing I found (and now own) the book is pleasure enough!

Something I don't know if I caught the first time I read it, this book is set in Utah! When it mentioned Sugarhouse Park, I was able to accurately picture the setting. What a sweet, odd surprise. It makes me wonder if the cemetery is a real location as well?
This also answers why I had such a hard time finding the book, why it has so few reviews, and how I had the opportunity to come across it in the first place: she's a local author.


What an incredible thriller for younger audiences! It left an emotional mark on me all these years later. It wasn't so emotional this time around, yet reading the end scene was refreshing something so vivid it was almost never dusted by time in the first place.

--------------
IF this is the book I remember (I think so, I've been looking for 18 years!), then it totally blew the mind of 4th grade me.

[Rachael Wiggins · Rating 2 out of 5]

WHAT. THE. WHAT? It starts off as the young adult books I remember, best friends with a fight, wanting to date, blah blah blah.

ALL OF A SUDDEN babies dying, babies dying everywhere. Spoiler alert, they're not dead - no - they've been poisoned by a creeper, dug up, and sold on the black market. That is a bit darker than most young adult novels I remember.

Also, the secrets Janaan keep seem to be a bit stupid and unnecessary, but I guess that's pretty real because they are teenagers.

I didn't even really enjoy it, about a third of the way through my face screwed up into a huge WTF and stayed there for the remainder of the book, plus an hour or two after that.

[08kassadyw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! Show Me the Evidence by Alane Ferquson made in the year of 1994
This book is about a younge lady from Skyline High who touched 3 babies and they all ended up dying. The police are trying to get proof that Janann is guilty. Lauren, Janaans friend is her best friend she believes Janaan had nothing to do with the crimes. This book is an Amazing Mystery book that gives u shocking moments that would have your mouth open. I would have to say the ending of the story is pretty shocking.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book signed when I met the author while at a writing conference in 6th grade. From an 11yr-old's perspective I thought it was scandalous and felt I had to get rid of it. I would have to read it again to judge it's merit from a more desensitized perspective.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this hard to read, being a parent of small children and thus lived with fear of SIDS until my babies were old enough, but it is well written and interesting.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this waaaaaaay back in the day. I went to a writer's conference for grade school children and the author spoke. I remember really enjoying this book.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one in jr. high and remember loving! Suspenseful and a page-turner. Alane Ferguson came to our school and gave an assembly, I remember, so I read it after that.

[Micky Parise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little storyline. If you see this book in the library or garage sale or laying around, pick it up, good enjoyable reading. Nice.

[hapit na madugta · Rating 5 out of 5]