Now You See Her

February 5, 2007
Mitchard's (The Deep End of the Ocean
) unsettling thriller features a borderline psychotic heroine—a trait that readers will suspect, but not confirm until the final chapters. Bernadette Romano, who now goes by Hope Shay, is destined to be a star—or so she thinks. Through Hope's first-person narrative, readers learn that she was accepted to Starwood Academy for the Performing Arts in Michigan at the age of 15—much to the delight of her success-obsessed parents. Cast as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
, opposite the 17-year-old hunky and semi-famous actor, Logan Rose, Hope falls in love with him. The two come up with what she calls "The Plan" (to move to L.A. or New York together, get married and become professional actors) and "The Idea" (to stage an elaborate heist wherein Hope is supposedly kidnapped, then later found by Logan, who is paid handsomely by her parents as a reward). But The Idea backfires and Hope winds up in a mental institution for staging her own disappearance. The catch is, she really is sick. Everything—The Plan, The Idea, Logan's love for her, her starring role in the play—was a figment of the now 17-year-old Hope's imagination. Although Hope/Bernadette plays the part of the unreliable narrator with unnerving precision, her disillusionment carries on too long, and readers may well feel they've been unwittingly duped. Ages 12-up.

March 1, 2007
Gr 7-10-Who is sheHope Shay or Bernadette Romano? Kidnapping victim or manipulative schemer? Mitchard pulls out all the stops in this psychological thriller about a 15-year-old Michigan actress (stage name, Hope) who attends the elite Starwood Academy for the Performing Arts. Despite the jealousy of her fellow students, Hope seems to be thriving and has landed the starring role in the student production of "Romeo and Juliet". She has also fallen deeply in love with her own Romeo, actor Logan Rose. In fact, they plan to get some money together and live in L.A. or New York City as soon as she's 16. But something goes terribly wrong, and suddenly everyone suspects Hope of faking her own abduction and fabricating her romance. Peeling the layers of her story away reveals the truth in bits and pieces, and the ambiguous conclusion feels absolutely realistic. This riveting page-turner is sure to be in hot demand."Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.