2011, Bloomsbury Teens
Young Adult Choice--International Reading Association
I can easily see why this book was chosen as a favorite read by adolescents. It is a book that I will recommend to many. It is a ghost story and also but sensitive but look at many of the stresses that too many teens face in their lives.
Liz (Elizabeth) has died mysteriously on her 18th birthday. Her ghost narrates the book. She has been joined in the afterlife by Alex, another team from her high school, who also died recently in an unsolved hit and run accident.
Liz, and all her friends, live privileged lives. They have wealthy families, are beautiful, and hold the top positions in the social structure of their high school. Her boyfriend, also her next door neighbor, is smart, good looking, totally devoted to her, but also a drug dealer.
I found the mystery in this book compelling. I did not deduce the answer to the mystery until almost 2/3 way through the book. I expect that teen readers may take just a little bit longer. Even once I had resolved the mystery, I was still compelled to finish reading to discover what happened to the various characters.
In addition to the mystery of how and why Liz died, themes of anorexia, exercise addiction, teen drug use, high school social structures, and blended families are all explored.
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