Skinjacker Trilogy by Neal Shusterman
Everlost (Book One) - 320 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: ***1/2; When teenagers Allie and Nick are killed in a car accident, they become entangled in a tunnel of light and wind up in a place called Everlost. They sleep for nine months and wake to find themselves being watched by a boy wearing old-fashioned clothes. He teaches them a few key points: always keep moving or you’ll sink to the center of the Earth, look for dead spots because they are safe, and stay away from the McGill - the most feared creature in Everlost. Allie and Nick decide to trek home, and on their way they come face-to-face with the Twin Towers . Along with the Titanic, the Hindenburg, and other objects that people have placed loving memories upon, the Twin Towers of New York live on in Everlost. Leading the Everlost children is Mary Hightower, but she strives to keep everyone on a schedule and a routine, not allowing them to venture out by themselves. Although Nick falls in love with Mary, he and Allie still want to find their way home. Unfortunately, to do so they must face the McGill and possibly learn the secret of how to leave Everlost. This action-packed novel is sure to please!
Everwild (Book Two) - 424 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: ***1/2; It has been a few years since Allie and Nick left Mary Hightower and went their separate ways. Nick is now known as the Chocolate Ogre due to the small chocolate smudge he had on his face when he entered Everlost which has now grown to incredible proportions. Allie is with Mikey McGill and is honing her skinjacking skills. Skinjacking means an Afterlight can possess a living person’s body. Allie and Mikey meet a trio o skinjackers who teach Allie how to crowd surf and while one flirts with allie, Mikey becomes increasingly jealous and reverts back to his monstrous McGill ways. Meanwhile, Mary Hightower has expanded her power in Everlost by taking over Chicago and heading south to Memphis. She hasn’t changed her devious plans either, and her final showdown with Nick demonstrates just how wicked she can be.
In the early 1870s, just after the Civil War, young Horace has become a photographer’s apprentice. He is anxious to take his first photographs, but his employer, Mr. Middleditch, does not give him any assignments. A wealthy woman comes into the photography shop requesting a portrait to be taken in her home. She says she is grieving for her daughter Eleanora and would like a portrait to be placed at her daughter’s tomb. Mr. Middleditch, a greedy man, concocts a scheme to superimpose a ghostly image of Eleanora into the woman’s photograph in order to make a name for himself in spirit photography, but Horace is warned by Pegg, the servant girl, that Eleanora was the not the woman’s daughter and she did not die of natural causes. Horace soon encounters Eleanora’s spirit and she is angry and vengeful. Can Horace stop the ghost before she hurts the ones who hurt her?
Susannah the Mediator returns in this sequel to Shadowland. Suze can communicate with the dead, and this time she receives an alarming wake-up call in the middle of the night. A woman’s ghost is screaming at the top of her lungs and tells Suze to give “Red” a message for her: He didn’t kill her. This cryptic message leads Suze to Mr. “Red” Beaumont, who is a little loony to say the least. The eccentric millionaire, intrigued by Suze’s revelation that a woman wanted her to tell him he didn’t kill her, obsesses about Suze and her ability to communicate with ghosts. But will the knowledge of her talent lead to danger? Of course! Find out how Suze plans to get out of the mess she’s in this time by reading The Ninth Key!
This title is the first in a series of 6 by the author of such hits as The Princess Diaries and All-American Girl. Suze Simon’s mother has remarried and relocated from New York to California. Despite being the new girl at school, Suze manages to make a few friends and enemies within minutes of her arrival. You see, Suze is not exactly what you’d call a “normal” teenager. She can see, speak to, and touch ghosts. She has had this talent since birth. She finds it annoying, but not scary. Upon her arrival at Juniper Serra Catholic High School, she immediately encounters a very hostile ghost of a teenager, Heather, who is haunting the halls of the school. Suze decides it will be her mission to rid the school of this angry spirit before someone gets hurt. Meanwhile, she also is dealing with another ghost who is haunting her bedroom. With so many ghosts needing her attention, Suze doesn’t have much time to get settled into her new life in California.
