Runaways

October 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Kaylee and Mason are missing. That is the rumor spreading in the halls of elite Danbury Prep. When students are called to the office to talk to the police, rumor springs into truth. How did wealthy good-girl Kaylee and bad-boy Mason disappear? Are they still alive? Danbury students and staff start telling their versions of Kaylee and Mason's relationship and what they saw the night before the two disappeared. These accounts become more salacious and repetitive as the book continues. When a body is discovered, the focus of the investigation changes. Instead, everyone is sure they killed someone. Szymkowski attempts to build a dramatic and riveting suspense story but fumbles. Kaylee and Mason are flat characters. The students are portrayed as conniving and catty, each with an agenda of their own, while the adults behave like teens themselves. It is nearly impossible to find the characters sympathetic. The author's constant use of flashbacks, with jumps to the present, does manage to make sense, but overall the story reads like a badly written soap opera. For a more appealing teen suspense story involving murder, try Abigail Haas's Dangerous Girls (S. & S., 2013) or Sara Shepard's ever-popular "Pretty Little Liars" series (HarperCollins).-Sarah Wethern, Douglas County Library, Alexandria, MN

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.