Candlewick; (Reprint edition) April, 2004
ISBN: 0763621897
Available: New and Used
A combination of teen horror spoof, mystery, and a little legit horror mixes it up in this offering from Newbery award winning author Paul Fleischman. When blond Norwegian Helga comes to town, the boys of Cliffside High are automatically drawn to her, causing three of the girls who belong to the elite Hun click, Danielle, Tiffany, and Brooke, to try to find a way to eliminate this new source of competition for good. Fleischman uses a number of conventions of teen horror, but the spoofing of those conventions seems to fall a little flat. I suspect that the book was supposed to be more humorous than it actually was, and what Fleischman does end up give us is a mystery with some horrifying elements with a degree of unpredictability in its telling. It is a quick and easy read, and teens who have read young adult horror will enjoy this. Recommended: Contains: mild violence.