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New "Ghost Squad" Novel Full of Surprises
While keeping an eye out for Stephen, Rory and the other supernatural detectives have another problem. Charlotte, Rory's boarding school classmate, is missing. She was last seen in the company of Jane Quaint, her therapist. As Rory has come to realize, Quaint is more than just a psychiatrist. Also a possessor of "the sight," she recruits teens who are likewise gifted into what Rory suspects is a cult. The group may, in fact, be responsible for a number of deaths. Whatever power Jane may possess, though, pales in comparison to that of a dangerous pair of ghosts recently arrived in London. It's up to Rory and her team to stop them all from hurting anyone else. Can the "ghost squad" stop Jane and her cohorts before it's too late? Or will they, like Stephen, go missing in action?
I've loved Maureen Johnson's Shades of London series since it began (with The Name of the Star). It's not the most original YA supernatural series out there, but it's one of the only ones that combines all of my favorite things—intriguing characters, an atmospheric setting, vivid prose, and pulse-pounding action—in one elongated story line. Each of the books brings something new to the table, which keeps me anxious for sequels. Since The Madness Underneath ended in such a torturous cliffhanger, it felt like I waited a decade for The Shadow Cabinet to come out. This third book in the series begins where the last one left off, answering the question of Stephen's fate, while adding in lots of new thrills. Like its predecessors, The Shadow Cabinet is a perfect blend of creepy and funny. It's compelling, thrilling, and satisfying. My only complaint is that I now have to wait another decade for the fourth and final book in the series. Waaahhh!
(Readalikes: The Name of the Star and The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson)
Grade:
The Tragedy Paper A Quiet, Atmospheric Mystery
(Readalikes: The publisher compares it to 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher and Looking for Alaska by John Green. I haven't read the latter, but I agree the former is similar.)
Grade:
Scandalous Sisterhood A Zany, Madcap Adventure
. Perish the thought. None of them want to return to the confining pressures of family life, especially since doing so would mean losing contact with one another. Naturally, they cannot allow this to happen. Obviously, they'll have to hide the corpses and pretend that everything at St. Etheldreda's is as proper as ever.
YA Military School Novel A Fast-Paced, Girl-Power Thrill Ride
A Second Helping of Gallagher Girls Charm? Yes, Please!
It's No Secret, French Mesmerizes Me—Every Time
Then, 16-year-old Holly Mackey walks into the police station with a tip she's only willing to share with Stephen. Knowing this could be the golden ticket that gets him on his dream squad, he hears her out. What he discovers is chilling. Holly has brought him a card plucked from a bulletin board, where she and her classmates at St. Kilda's are encouraged to anonymously post their most tantalizing secrets. The message on the card reads: I know who killed him. Him being Chris Harper, a 16-year-old student at a boy's school near St. Kilda's, whose head was bashed in last year. With the crime still unsolved, Stephen smells a big opportunity to prove his worth—not just to his derisive colleagues, but also to Holly Mackey, who, in all her young innocence, believes him capable of sniffing out a murderer.
With the help of tough, caustic Detective Antoinette Conway, Stephen hightails it to St. Kilda's to begin his investigation. The posh boarding school in Dublin's quiet suburbs looks as benign as a sleeping kitten, but it soon becomes clear that dangerous secrets are hiding behind its gentle facade. Unfortunately for Stephen, the biggest ones circle back to Holly and her small group of close-knit friends. With the school's headmistress breathing down his neck, an irate Frank Mackey (Holly's father, the star of Faithful Place) watching his every move, and a gaggle of flirtatious, but reticent girls to crack, Stephen's beginning to feel as if he's in way, way over his head. Who killed Chris Harper? The frustrated detective is determined to find out. Even if it means putting Holly Mackey—the girl who trusted him enough to come to him with evidence of a killer on her school campus—behind bars.
As much as I love murder mysteries set in boarding schools, I admit, the premise of The Secret Place, the newest in the Dublin Murder Squad series, does sound a little generic. But, consider this: Tana French wrote it. As far as mystery writers go, I've never found her equal (despite repeated Google searches for authors like Tana French) in clever plotting, intriguing characters, and tight, magnetizing prose. She one-ups herself in The Secret Place, though, because she gives her detectives only one day to solve the puzzling crime at the center of the novel. Given the tight timeline, you might expect a similarly narrow reading experience. Not so. French is skilled enough to not only create multi-layered characters, but to allow us time to know and understand them, even within the framework of a fast-paced murder investigation. She's that good. Her books always mesmerize me—this was no exception. I could do without French's ever-present potty-mouth and the fact that she only writes one book every two years, but other than that, no complaints. She's a gem. I can't wait to see what she does next.
(Readalikes: Other books in the Dublin Murder Squad series [In the Woods; The Likeness; Faithful Place; and Broken Harbour])
Grade:
Taut, Haunting And We Stay Short on Plot, Long on Hope
Slow, Snore of a Story Too Dull For My Tastes
Still reeling from the unexpected death of his mother, the last thing 13-year-old Jack Baker wants is to be shipped off to boarding school. But that's exactly what has happened. Jack longs for Kansas and the home he's left behind. Maine just isn't the same. Even with his Navy captain father stationed nearby, Jack couldn't feel more adrift. It's not like he really knows his father—a strict man who's been fighting in the European Theater for the last four years—but he'd rather be in Kansas with him than living on the shores of the Atlantic with a bunch of boys he doesn't know. Jack's mother would have listened to his concerns; his father doesn't care.So. Much. Fun.
The daughter of two legendary spies, 15-year-old Cammie Morgan can't wait to put the skills she's learning at Gallagher Academy into action. She just never imagined she'd be practicing covert operations on the hot guy she meets in town one evening. If only she could talk to Josh without sounding like an idiot, Cammie wouldn't have to hack into his computer or tap his phone to get to know him better. But she can't. She's tried. And, she definitely can't "be herself" around him because everything about who she is is classified. What's a love struck super spy to do? Get her man by any means possible, of course! Will her first mission be a roaring success or a miserable failure? How about a little of both ...
Considering the book cover and title, it doesn't take a genius (or a super spy) to figure out that I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter is a whole lot of fun. It's one of those light, funny stories that just makes a person smile. The tone is upbeat, the story moves swiftly, and there are some plot curves to keep the reader guessing (a little). Yeah, yeah, it's predictable, but who cares? This is a delightful beginning to a popular series that I should have picked up a lot sooner than this. Did I mention how totally fun it is?
(Readalikes: The other books in the Gallagher Girls series [Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy; Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover; Only the Good Spy Young; Out of Sight, Out of Time] and Heist Society by Ally Carter)
Grade: B
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mild language and a (very) little innuendo
To the FTC, with love: Another library
Introducing My New Favorite YA Series. Well, One of Them ...
Black Boy, White School Frank, Affecting
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
borhood. Teeming with gangsters, drugs and crime, it's the kind of place where violence can break out at any time over any little thing. The 14-year-old is used to it, but when his best friend is killed in a drive-by, Ant knows he can't stay in the ghetto for one more minute. Fortunately, he's got a way out—he's been offered a scholarship to an exclusive boarding school in Maine. Unfortunately, Belton Academy's student body is made up mostly of kids who are wealthy and white, two things Ant most certainly is not. It's not the ideal situation for a black city boy, but Ant's determined to make the best of it. 
ers, most of whom are athletes, all of whom are there thanks to financial aid. Ant doesn't like the message Belton's meager attempt at diversification sends—not all black people are poor and good at basketball (his game, for instance, needs some serious help). Determined to change that image, Ant does his best to fit in. Only he doesn't. Not really. His temper flares every time someone looks askance at him, he bristles each time someone assumes something about him because of his skin color, and he gets especially riled up when his black friends accuse him of becoming too white. The more time Ant spends in his whitewashed new world, the more he begins to wonder who he really is. Is he some prep-school white boy wannabe or a tough-as-nails E.C. homeboy? Both? Neither? As Ant struggles to find his place in the world, he has to ask himself some tough questions—and face the hard truths revealed by his answers.The Maze Runner Goes to School in New YA Dystopian
(Image from Barnes & Noble)When 17-year-old Benson Fisher receives a scholarship to Maxfield Academy, he's thrilled. Nervous, but thrilled. After being bumped from foster home to foster home fo
r most of his life, he hopes the private high school might provide the kind of haven he's never experienced before. Maybe he'll make friends for once. Maybe living with a bunch of other kids at a secluded boarding school will make them all super close. Like a family.
The knots in Benson's stomach pretzel even tighter when he sees the school. Housed in a sprawling mansion, Maxfield Academy looks like the kind of rich-kid prep school you see on t.v. Only it's stranded in the middle of the New Mexico desert, not in some quaint New England town. It's remote, exclusive and ... sinister. Benson can't quite put his finger on it, but he knows something's not quite right at his new school.
It doesn't take him long to discover there are no adults at Maxfield Academy. Divided into three gangs, the students run the school - as much as they can while taking orders from a nameless source that watches their every move and doles out punishments to make sure the rules are always followed. Constantly monitored by security cameras, the kids at Maxfield are forced to attend class, wear their uniforms, keep the school clean and orderly, play brutal war games, and get along. Small infractions result in demerits. Breaking the Big Four - No Sex, No Violent Fights, No refusing punishments, and No escaping - equals death.
Disturbed by his classmates' calm acceptance of the way Maxfield runs, Benson's determined to escape. He doesn't care if no one's ever done it before. Foster care has made him both tough and street smart; if anyone can get out of the place, he can. Only, the longer he stays, the more connected he feels to his new friends. He can't leave them all behind, but he can't get them to abandon Maxfield either. None of the kids at the school, including Benson, have anything to go home to - whoever runs Maxfield made sure of that - so maybe everyone else is right, maybe staying at the creepy institution is better than the alternative. Or not. When Benson stumbles on the terrifying secret behind Maxfield's elegant facade, he knows he has to get himself and every one of his classmates out. Now. But, how? Maxfield might as well be Alcatraz. And trying to get a whole pack of teenagers over an impenetrable wall feels a lot like suicide. Running out of time and options, Benson has to act - before it's too late for them all.
Variant, a new YA dystopian by Robison Wells (available October 4), feels so familiar it could have been subtitled The Maze Runner Goes to School. Although the story's got a twist toward the end that differentiates it from James Dashner's popular series, I still wanted more originality from this debut novel. Also subtlety and complexity and just more depth overall. That being said, I'm intrigued by the possibilities suggested by the ending of Variant. While I didn't love this first book in the series, I'll give the second one a chance, if only to see how Wells explains everything that's happened thus far. Despite my hang-ups with Variant, it's still got me asking that most ancient and compelling of questions: "What happens next?" In spite of myself, I need to know. So, yeah, I'm lukewarm about this one, but still willing to give the series a chance. I'm hoping Wells will surprise me. And good.
(Readalikes: Reminded me a lot of The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner; also a little like the Hunger Games trilogy [The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay] by Suzanne Collins)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for mild language (no F-bombs), violence, and mild sexual innuendo
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Variant from the generous folks at Harper Teen. Thank you!
Boarding School Ghost Story Not Quite As Chilling As Creepy-Cool Cover Suggests
(Image from Barnes & Noble)The minute Leena Thomas spies Frost House crouching at the edge of Barcroft Academy's campus, she knows she has to live there. Nestled in a grove of trees, the cozy old Victorian - so much more inviting than the rest of the boarding school's dormitories - just feels like the perfect place for Leena and her friends to spend their senior year. It's a boy's dorm, but Leena's pretty sure she can use her connections to get that changed. Her plan comes together so perfectly, it's like the whole thing was meant to be.
Except for Celeste Lazar. She was never part of Leena's plan. And yet, the freaky, art-obsessed senior is now rooming with Leena thanks to the bulky cast on Celeste's broken leg and Frost House's easier access to campus. Leena's friends can't stop complaining about an outsider intruding on their perfect senior year. She's not thrilled about it either, but Leena's willing to put forth an effort. It's only for a semester. She can handle anything for a semester.
Or so she thinks until things in their shared bedroom start to get ... strange. Celeste's artwork seems to jump off the wall despite being securely fastened, Celeste's senior project gets ruined in some mysterious way, and Celeste keeps waking up with bruises all over her body. She blames the other girls, even a malevolent "presence" she insists lurks in the house. Leena's reluctant to believe her frantic new roomie, especially considering mental illness runs in Celeste's family. Besides, Leena feels completely welcome in the house and in their room. In fact, she feels more than welcome, she feels connected, almost needed by the place. But as Leena grows closer to Celeste's gorgeous older brother David, she's drawn deeper into Celeste's problems and further away from the other girls in Frost House. As Leena fights to keep her friends, help Celeste, and hold onto David, she feels her world come crashing down. Frost House becomes her sanctuary - a sanctuary that wants to keep her safe. Forever.
Frost, a debut novel by Marianna Baer, looks like a creepy little ghost tale (I mean, just look at that cover!). And it is. Kinda. Although, really, it's more psychological thriller than horror story. The former, though, never really got intense enough for me and the latter seemed too cliche. That, along with flat characters and Baer's tendency toward wordiness irritated me - not enough to keep me from finishomg the book, but enough that I'm not gushing over Frost. For a first novel, it's not bad, it's just not as good as I hoped it would be. Too bad because that creepy-coll cover still gives me chills.
(Readalikes: Hm, I can't think of anything. Can you?)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong languge, mild sexual content, intense situations and depictions of underrage drinking and prescription drug abuse.
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Frost from the generous folks at Harper Teen. Thank you!
The Mockingbirds Honest, Authentic
(Image from Indiebound)Alex Patrick isn't the kind of girl who sleeps around. In fact, she's never slept with 
anyone at all. Which is why waking up next to some guy she barely knows shocks her to her core. She doesn't know his name, can't remember coming to his dorm room, and hopes beyond hope that the condoms in his trash don't mean what she thinks they do. Memories of their night together are so fuzzy she's not sure she'll ever remember anything, let alone the most important question of all: Did she consent to having sex with a boy whose name she can't even remember?
One thing is certain - Alex drank way too much on the night in question. Still, pieces of the evening are floating back and the more she remembers, the surer she becomes that Carter Hutchinson raped her. Now he's bragging about it to anyone who'll listen. Alex has to do something, but she can't go to the administration of her exclusive boarding school (they'd never believe one of their students committed a criminal act) or the police (who would violate her even further with their evidence-gathering). The Mockingbirds are her only hope. Themis Academy's secret justice society has its own kind of power; Alex just has to convince its judges to wield it in her behalf. But proving her case means reliving the worst night of her life, ruining another student's reputation, and enduring threats from a very angry Carter. Is it worth the fight? Does she have any hope of winning? And what will the battle cost her?
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney discusses date rape with an honesty so searing it can only come from personal experience. The author was violated while in college and, although she took a more traditional route to justice than her heroine, going through the process herself means that Whitney's book rings with an authenticity that will speak to not only rape victims but to all women. Although the writing gets awkward at times, the story moves quickly, the characters are mostly interesting, and the secret society angle gives a common topic some originality. I expected the book to blow me away. It didn't. Still, it was a compelling read. Not an easy one, but one that made me think.
(Readalikes: Um, I can't think of any, although it references To Kill A Mockingbird quite a bit.)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for language and sexual content
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
Heroes Meets Sky High In Cliched Super Powers Novel
(Image from Barnes & Noble)Fourteen-year-old Dancia Lewis has spent so much time keeping herself inconspicuous (average grades, forgettable looks, dingy wardrobe, no real friends) that she's shocked to learn she's being recruited for prestigious Delcroix Academy. Although she's never actually been inside the gates of the exclusive boarding school, she knows it's reserved for the super rich and super smart. So, why does the principal want her? It's definitely not for her grades, her involvement in extracurriculars, her bold crusades to save the world, her family's glittering fortune - in fact, she can't think of one reason anyone would want her at Delcroix. Well, there is one reason, but no one knows about her ... power. She's made sure of that by remaining absolutely, completely ordinary. So, what is it the recruiters see in her? A potential for greatness? A token charity student? Someone with a multitude of talents just waiting to be discovered and nurtured? Who cares? Between the stellar education, the full scholarship, the diverse student population, and Cam, the very hot, apparently interested recruiter, Dancia really can't say no.
Her first steps on campus convince Dancia that Delcroix truly is different from other schools. The student body runs the gamut from drama geeks to computer nerds to musical prodigies, all of whom are accepted and respected for their unique abilities. Cliques are replaced by "teams," the members of which help, support and hang out with each other. For the first time, Dancia feels accepted. Even though she's yet to find her special talent, she's hopeful that she will. It doesn't hurt that she's got two guys vying for her attention - Cam, the golden boy senior, and paranoid bad boy, Jack.
As tranquil as Delcroix seems, Dancia can't shake the feeling that there's something more to the school than meets the eye. Jack, who's concealing his own dark secrets, sees conspiracies around every corner. Is he just mad that he can't seem to assimilate in a place that accepts even the most eccentric kids? Or is there something to his crazy theories? She can't deny the strange electric shock she got from shaking Cam's hand the first time she met him, but he's the most normal boy in the world. Can he be hiding a power of his own? Or is Jack's paranoia making Dancia as distrustful as he is?
When Jack finds what appears to be incriminating evidence in Cam's dorm room, Dancia's forced to accept the truth - something very, very strange is going on at Delcroix Academy, something big, something so dangerous it has Jack running for his life. Torn between helping Jack and believing Cam, Dancia has to figure out the truth about what she is, what she can do, and how far she's willing to go to protect the people she loves.
Delcroix Academy: The Candidates is the first book in a new series by debut author Inara Scott. A tiny bit Harry Potter, a little bit X-Men, and a lot bit Heroes, the novel leans so heavily on cliche that this series will never be able to stand on its own without a serious originality intervention. The plot's been done countless times, making freshness an absolute necessity. Unfortunately, Scott introduces nothing unique - no daring new angles, no captivating new characters, no surprising plot developments. Nothing. Nothing to make The Candidates memorable, nothing to keep it from fading into dull, lifeless predictability. Worse, there are no sparks between any of the characters, the story inches along at a snail's pace, and it takes Dancia the entire length of the novel to see what's perfectly obvious to the rest of us. All of these things contributed to me putting this book down twice before deciding to soldier on. I'm sure the series will get better as it goes along, but I won't be sticking around long enough to find out. My super reading powers are telling me to move on.
(Readalikes: Weirdly, it's movies and tv shows that come to mind - the book's kind of a cross between Heroes and Sky High.)
Grade: C-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs) and mild sexual innuendo
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Delcroix Academy: The Candidates from the generous folks at Disney/Hyperion. Thank you!
Readin'
Beach Thriller by Jamie Day
Listenin'
Hidden Rooms by Kate Michaelson
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2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
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