Shift

April 23, 2012
Olive keeps it simple: take her meds, keep a low profile at school, stay away from the ocean (with its horrible memories), and try not to cause trouble since she’s pretty sure her selfish, unruly behavior is what made her father take off six months ago. But then strange and mysterious Miranda Vaile shows up at her high school, and Olive’s safeguards start to crumble. Miranda begins insinuating herself into the life of Olive’s former best friend, Katie, but only Olive and Lachlan, the handsome new guy in town, think anything is odd. Bailey builds her first YA novel with precision, drawing readers into a complicated world where things are not at all what they seem. In a story that is as much about friendship and redemption as it is about second-guessing reality, Bailey creates characters that have depth and authenticity. As Olive’s nemesis, Miranda is as creepy as they come, and readers will wonder to the very end what to make of her shifting personalities. Olive’s story comes to a satisfying conclusion, one that will be hard to forget. Ages 12–up.

June 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-After her suicide attempt, Olive shuts herself off from most of the world, transforming from one of the popular kids to an outsider. She drifts through high school, mostly hanging out with her mum and kid brother. And then orphaned Miranda moves to town, along with the rumor that she murdered her parents. Though she's bizarrely unremarkable, she forces her way into the in-crowd and slowly takes the place of Olive's ex-best friend and the high school's queen bee, Katie. As Olive tries to accept that romantic overtures from handsome new guy Lachlan might not be just a cruel joke, she struggles with painful memories of her dad leaving her family and worries about Katie. She slowly realizes that Miranda is a "humanoid shifter," a being that can "take on the characteristics of other humans," until the shifter has become the person he or she latched onto, leading to the victim's death. When she's done with Katie, Miranda sets her sights on Olive. This psychological, supernatural thriller is creepy and fresh. Bailey spreads revelations throughout the story while simultaneously building suspense. The unhealthy relationships are disconcerting and just as intoxicating for readers as they are for the characters. Teens will be hooked after the first page.-Emily Chornomaz, West Orange Public Library, NJ

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