The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Students at school have heard me say many times, I’m sold by great cover art. You may not be able to judge a book by the cover, but it sure can convince me to read it. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer sold me through cover art alone. The story didn’t disappoint.

When they asked the ouija board how Rachel would die, the board spelled out M-A-R-A. Sixth months later Mara is the only survivor of a building collapse, her best friend Rachel, their friend Jude and his sister Claire dead in the rubble. Mara wakes form a coma but remembers nothing of that night.  What was the Tamerlane? Why had they gone there? But that is only the beginning. Mara begins to hallucinate. She sees her dead friends in mirrors. After changing schools to avoid the stressful memories of her dead friends, Mara’s hallucinations follow her. The first day of classes at her new school, she experiences the collapse of the classroom including falling face first and bloodying her nose in front of a room full of strangers. She then discovers it is a fresh round of horror produced by her own mind. Mara is willing to accept the diagnosis of these images as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder until they start meshing with physical reality. After imagining a choking accident for a brutally cruel teacher, the teacher dies of anaphylactic shock – just as she has imagined. Mara begins to question herself. She begins to accept the possibility that she killed her best friend. Somehow she must be causing the violence. As Mara struggles with her personal demons, real or imagined, Noah enters her life. Secretive and bound to break her heart, Mara just can’t resist his charms.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a thriller with a touch of romance. It will have you looking over your shoulder in the dark and holding your breath. The romantic element is hot and sultry enough to catch the attention of plenty of romantic hearts but tame enough to happily live in any high school library. Additionally, the romantic element buoys the story. In the hands of a different author, the story of a girl’s hallucinations about her dead best friend and questions of her own guilt could be brutal and tragic. But here it is thrilling, surprising and compelling. Since Mara narrates her own story, realities are revealed as she learns them keeping the reader guessing and wondering along with her. 

If you enjoy stories that are unpredictable, read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. One of the most compelling parts of Mara Dyer’s story is its capacity to keep the reader off balance. Every time it appears the story will slide into familiar predictable patterns, it shifts just enough to turn the pages a little faster. If you prefer stories that contain both mystery and romance, read this. If you like your romance with a touch of heart racing intensity but without the R rating, read about Mara Dyer. Whatever your preference, read it. You won’t be disappointed.

I am the Messenger by Mark Zusak

Since I mentioned it yesterday, I should explain I Am the Messenger. The Reading Rock Stars and Bookaneers will not be surprised when I say this is one of my favorite books – ever.

I am the Messenger is the story of Ed Kennedy. Ed is 20; drives a cab; fights with his mother.  She cusses him out regularly while pursuing her life’s work: convincing Ed that he has no future and his life is worthless. Oh, and Ed is in love with his beautiful, yet romantically unattainable, best friend Audrey. Ed’s life is run of the mill average until he foils the bank robbery and becomes briefly famous.

In the collapsed robbery’s wake, Ed begins getting playing cards. The first playing card has four addresses and four times. As Ed visits each address, he discovers situations he feels compelled to do something about. Later, there are more cards, late night visits from men in masks who assault him. Ed embarks on what can best be described as a hero’s journey that changes him.

I am the Messenger is by turns, funny, heart pounding, and bittersweet. It is full of characters that will endear themselves to you including Ed’s dog: the Doorman. It is a story about friends and how well we really know them. It is a book about amazing opportunities that present themselves unexpectedly in life and how they change us. It is a book not to be missed. You will never see the end coming – ever. Read it. Read it. Read it. 

Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns plays out over the last six weeks of Q’s senior year. His friends are preoccupied with Prom and Graduation. Q’s focus is Margo Roth Spiegelman. Neighbors for most of their lives, Q and Margo have never really been friends. They orbit in entirely different social circles at school. His best friends are in the band. She is the queen of the social scene. One night Margo appears at Q’s window and invites him along on an all-night prank spree. They day after their adventure, Margo disappears. Where is she? Is she dead? Can Q follow the clues to find her? Should he? What’s more important: what to wear under his graduation gown or finding Margo? Fans of Mark Zusak’s I am the Messenger will find much to love here. Paper Towns presents a great mix of laugh out loud funny with moments of contemplation. How well do we really know the people who are our friends? Do we let people see the real us or only a mask of what we want them to think of us? What happens when you encounter cows on the middle of the highway during a 24 hour all night road trip to New York state powered on enthusiasm, caffeine, and beef jerky?   

Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

“Everything changes when Tiffany Quinn disappears.” Kendall lives in a tiny farming community in Montana. One spring a classmate disappears. The entire community searches with no avail. Tiffany is simply gone. As summer turns to fall, Kendall and her classmates attempt to return to normal. Tiffany’s absence is obvious, since Kendall’s community is so small that the entire high school attends a one room school house. In spite of her OCD (“counting, always counting something”) Kendall feels like life is back on track with the beginning of school until her best friend Nico acts strange and then he, too, disappears. Kendall’s world is rocked. The community is unsettled, struggling to keep its young people safe with curfews and partner polices. But no one knows how to protect the teens because no one can find a clue about either Tiffany or Nico’s disappearance. Then, Kendall begins to hear the whispers. Will they leader her to Nico or something more sinister?  

Cryer’s Cross is not your average mystery. There is more brewing here than simply a “who done it?” Short, tight chapters are divided by clues from the “We, When it is over, We breathe and ache like old oak, like peeling birch. One of Our souls set free….Calling to Our next victim, Our next savior. We carve on Our face: Touch Me. Save my soul.” Kendall’s struggle over the mysterious loss of her best friend and perhaps boyfriend is authentic. Her escalating struggle with her OCD in the face of events spinning beyond her control becomes increasingly unsettling. Cryer’s Cross becomes ever more creepy and spooky in the second half. For all the clues and fingers pointed in frustration, the end remains entirely unpredictable. For readers who enjoy being kept in the dark waiting for things to bump and surprise, this is a great choice. Cryer’s Cross hooks readers and won’t let go. Read this book if you like thrillers, creepy stories, and surprising endings that also remain free of the gratuitous language and sex that often work their way into YA literature.