Auracle
Seventeen-year-old Anna deals with her father’s alcoholism partly through her lifelong friendship with Rei, the boy next door, and partly through astral projection. Leaving her body, she has traveled around the world, into the cosmos, and to the nearby waterfall where Taylor, a predatory “party girl,” has lured Rei’s buddy Seth before she slips at the edge and crashes to her death. Anna returns to her body, only to find it occupied by Taylor, who (as Anna) accuses Seth of murder and tries to seduce Rei. Working to exorcise Taylor and reclaim her life, Anna realizes that her own feelings for Rei go way beyond friendship. Anna’s compelling first-person narrative creates a fine balance of elements: romance, family dynamics, paranormal activity, action, and suspense. Does it strain credibility when, in a crisis, Anna’s powers expand to include healing mortal wounds? Probably, but most readers will be too interested in finding out what happens next to stop for reflection. A captivating first novel. Grades 7-10. --Carolyn Phelan