I Woke Up Dead at the Mall

January 1, 2016
A feel-good novel about being dead? Only in this quirky, even romantic story. Sarah Evans would never be caught dead in mango, until, well, she wakes up dead in a mango chiffon dress at Minnesota's Mall of America. The 16-year-old New Yorker, the victim of food poisoning intended for her wealthy father, finds herself among other teens, all murdered, from New York City. They become stuck at the mall while they take care of unfinished business in the living world and reconcile their feelings for their new state of being. Unlike her fellow humans (alive or dead), Sarah has a gift, called the Knowing, which allows her to foresee unfortunate events in the future. While she wasn't able to stop her own mother's death, she may be able to thwart her new, greedy stepmother's attempt to kill her father. But she'll need the help of her fellow mall-mates. Although time and socio-economics would have prevented many of them from knowing one another, they become fast friends. Sarah's conversational, quick-paced, first-person narrative, full of "deadly" puns and idioms, recounts how she and her new BFFs (even in death?) work together. And when Sarah finds love in the process, she realizes she's only learned how to live by being dead. Sure, the plot is inconceivable, but isn't life? And death? (Fantasy. 14-18)

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February 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Sixteen-year-old New Yorker Sarah Evans is shocked when she wakes up dead. At the Mall of America. In Minnesota. Wearing the mango chiffon bridesmaid gown she had on when she died. Along with fellow teen murder victims Harry (cancer, although that isn't technically what killed him), Lacey (pushed off a roof), Alice (she doesn't want to talk about it), and the oh-so-dreamy Nick (gunshot to the chest), Sarah is supposed to use her time at the mall to prepare to move on. The only problem is that Sarah can't believe anyone would want to murder her when she spent her entire (short) life determined to be ordinary. Sarah also knows without a doubt that her father is in danger and she's the only one who can save him-even if interfering with the living is against the rules, according to her annoyingly chipper "death coach," Bertha. In this humorous and offbeat ghost story, Sarah uses her uncanny haunting abilities, along with some help from her new friends, to make sense of her afterlife and save the day. Sarah's snark-filled first-person narration meshes well with the madcap quality of this story. This novel sidesteps religion by presenting the Boy (aka "Boss of You") as the ultimate authority figure in the afterlife while also keeping things like angels separate from any faith-based interpretations. Unfortunately these seemingly arbitrary alternatives also provide little in the way of world-building for the fantasy elements. Pop culture references, including a years too late cameo by Oprah Winfrey, lend a dated and out-of-touch quality to this otherwise strong plot. One-note characters with vague motivations further diminish the overall impact of this novel. VERDICT Sheehan's quirky vision of the afterlife ultimately leads to a meandering plot with a mixed bag of plot points and an ending that ties things up with a too neat bow.-Emma Carbone, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2016
Grades 6-10 *Starred Review* Any reader who loves snarky, sarcastic teens, ghost stories, romance, and loves/hates to shop will enjoy 16-year-old Manhattanite Sarah's shock at dying and waking up at Minnesota's Mall of America. I never once considered that the afterlife was in Minnesota, she muses. But not only is she dead, she has been murderedand, worse, she is still wearing the hideous mango-colored bridesmaid dress she died in at her wealthy father's second wedding. Sarah and her fellow dead teens revisit a day from their life ( Thornton Wilder Day ), go to their own funerals, and have group therapy to help them move on. If they don't, they risk becoming mall walkers who endlessly trudge around in a dreamlike state. Sarah falls for cute, heroic Nick and is determined to go back to earth and avenge her death by haunting the person she believes murdered her, and maybe even save a loved one from being murdered as well. As a child, Sarah had premonitions but was unable to save her mother's lifehopefully, she can succeed this time. This sparkling debut pulls out all the stops: sweet, sad, hopeful, funny, and romantic in turn, it's a story bound to make readers laugh even as they cry.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)