Bliss
Grade 9 Up—In the summer of 1969, hippie teenager Bliss in the Morning Dew sees her whole world turn upside down. One day, she is unceremoniously dropped at her grandmother's house in Atlanta after her parents decide to leave their commune and move to Canada. Now, not only does she need to get to know her grandmother, but she also has to learn the ways of the society she now inhabits. That includes attending the exclusive Crestview Academy. This might sound like a typical story of a girl getting to know a long-lost family member, but it's not. This story is straight-up horror—with Bliss right in the center of the storm. The nice, polite, nonjudgmental teen has been singled out by one girl at school—a girl whose obsession with blood rituals borders on insanity. Lilliana was once a student at Crestview, but her mysterious death has long haunted the school. Yet, one girl believes that Lilliana can and must be brought back from the dead, and there's only one student who can help—Bliss. However, the protagonist has some secrets of her own, and she's not going to let Lilliana return without a fight. Myracle also works in period references, including the "The Andy Griffith Show" and the Manson Family murders. Although the story drags a bit in the middle and Bliss seems a bit too forgiving of a new friend, this novel is sure to cause goose bumps all the way to the dramatic and surprising end.—Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, ORCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.