Simon Pulse, 2012 (trade paperback); 2013 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9781442413276 (hardcover) 9781442413283 (trade paperback)
Available: New: e-book; new and used: hardcover, trade paperback
Isobel is miserable. Her mom just married a man she’s only known for a few months, and they’ve moved to a haunted mansion on a small island in the Pacific Northwest. Isobel has been torn away from her Seattle high school, and now she’ll have to finish her final year in a brand new place. If all that isn’t enough, Isobel starts seeing the ghost of the dead daughter of her new stepfather, and then her parents send her to a shrink because they think she’s mentally disturbed. At first, Isobel is afraid that they might be right—that she really is crazy, just like her schizophrenic, estranged father, but then she learns that things aren’t as innocent as they seem in her new family home.
This book has all of the bells and whistles needed to attract an adolescent reader: an angsty heroine, mean cheerleaders, an unsympathetic mother, a wicked step-father, a sexy step-brother, and plenty of mysterious things that go bump in the night. The story is spooky, and the heroine is in danger in the final climactic scene. There are no graphic scenes of either violence or sex, but there are a few scenes involving teen-age kissing and snuggling. Recommended for YA collections, middle and high school libraries, and teen readers.
Reviewed by : Patricia Mathews