Review of The Dead and the Buried by Kim Harrington

Point

The Dead and the Buried
by Kim Harrington
4 Scribbles
To be released January 1, 2013

Jade never dreamed she’d live in a big house in an upscale neighborhood, and she’s overjoyed when her dad and stepmom move the family, even if she knows it’s really so her baby brother, Colby can have a better education than she did. But then Jade discovers the things that go bump in the night. Turns out, there is a reason the house was such a good deal. Local “it” girl Kayla Sloane was pushed down the stairs to her death in the house just the year before. Now, Kayla’s ghost is threatening to kill her baby brother unless Jade finds Kayla’s murderer.

Realistic characters and spine-chilling events make for a truly creeptastic read!  Jade feels like an outsider in her family now that her father has remarried, a situation many teens can relate to.  Jade misses her mother, who taught her the metaphysical powers of gemstones. Without her beloved mother, who died of cancer, Jade has no idea who to trust with her stories of Ouija boards and threatening specters, and she’s pretty sure her stepmother will think she’s crazy. Add to this the fact that her dad is always traveling for work and Jade feels alone and helpless. But Jade loves her brother, Colby and is willing to risk anything to save him. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Jade is that she picks friends based on integrity and not popularity, even though she is tempted to choose poorly in order to “fit in” to her new school. Secondary characters, like Kayla’s brooding ex, Donovan (who makes for a tantalizing love interest), and Jade’s quirky, anti-social friend Alexa add a feeling of diversity and realism to her new school, and also create doubts about who Kayla’s true killer might be. I also liked that Kayla was such a hateful girl and didn’t change after death; sometimes people are just rotten, and dying does not change that, no matter how much people pretend it does.  This mystery is incredibly solid, with clues gleaned from Kayla’s cryptic diary and frequent episodes of haunting and possession that chill the marrow.  Readers who grove on shows like Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State will love this book!

Review of Stealing Air by Trent Reedy

Arthur A. Levine Books

Stealing Air
by Trent Reedy
To be released October 1, 2012
3 Scribbles

When sixth grade skater, Brian, moves to a small town in Iowa from big-city Seattle, he sees it as an opportunity to “start fresh.” However, it doesn’t take long for Brian to land on the radar of the class bully, Frank, and to fall for Frank’s sister, Wendy.  It seems like things couldn’t get any worse—that is until Brian’s parents can’t find an investor for their company invention, Plastisteel. Now Brian has bigger problems to face.  If Brian can’t help the company find an investor fast, Brian’s family will lose everything, and Frank will be the least of his problems.  

One of this novel’s strengths is the fact that its main characters are layered. Readers will enjoy meeting Brian, an everyday kid who struggles with everyday decisions. For instance, when class brainiac, Max, makes friends with Brian and they begin to build a flier made of plastisteel, Brian has no idea that he will be in Max’s class at school. Once faced with the decision to sit with Max at lunch, Brian wonders if being Max’s friend is worth being seen as a nerd, and he must meet cowardice head-on—not an easy thing to do at any age, let alone in the sixth grade. Frank is your typical bully but he has a sad past and a caring sister; Max is a genius with a sophisticated vocabulary but he hides a dark secret; and Alex is a successful “bookie” whose family seems rich but might not be. Readers are encouraged to look beneath the surface of the characters and to make real-world application of this lesson. Of course, in every good “guy book” there is action, and this novel is no exception. Brian and his crew face dangerous risks to create a flier that will fly like a regular airplane but with none of the safety features, and like typical guys, they jump into the dangers head first. Each trial run is fast-paced, easy to read, and makes the heart pump; and in between test runs, Brian’s confrontations with Frank amp up the tension. Reedy does a great job portraying the way young boys interact with one another, all the while keeping dialogue squeaky clean. Couple that with traditional values and multi-generational families, and this book would be at home in any library, especially in smaller communities. For guys who only care about action, this book is for you, but for books with similar stunts and lots of humor try How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary Paulsen or Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos.