The Unquiet

May 1, 2012
Even small towns have urban legends. Since 16-year-old Rinn's last manic episode resulted in the death of her grandmother, she and her mother have uprooted from California to relocate temporarily in her mother's rural Ohio hometown. With her bipolar disorder under control for the moment, Rinn's new life seems promising--until she discovers that a tunnel built to bypass the gym at her high school is rumored to be haunted by Annaliese, a teen who drowned in the school's swimming pool 20 years ago. After a seance conducted by fellow classmates unleashes the ghost's full powers, strange "accidents" begin occurring around the school. The story builds in intensity as both Rinn and Annaliese show their determination to overtake each other's will. Their power struggles highlight Rinn's constant battle to overcome her disorder and appear normal again. But how can a bipolar teen, already known for hearing strange voices, seeing hallucinations and experiencing psychotic episodes, convince those around her of the ghost's homicidal plans? To stop Annaliese, Rinn may just have to find out what started her haunting in the first place. A steamy romance with the best catch at school adds just the right balance to the novel's chilling effects. A shocking, spine-tingling ending proves that ghost stories never go out of style. (Supernatural thriller. 14 & up)

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October 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-After a series of traumatic events, Rinn Jacobs and her mother move from southern California to her mother's hometown in Ohio. While the Midwest is not immediately a perfect fit for Rinn, she is hoping for a fresh start now that her meds have evened out her bipolar disorder and she is no longer deemed a threat to herself and others. But when townspeople disappear; teens start dying; and otherwise sane people snap, including some of Rinn's new friends and her own mother, Rinn starts to question her hard-won sanity-especially when all of the events point her toward an unlikely source: a vengeful ghost haunting the school and causing chaos. The line between mental illness and demonic possession is the central conflict in the novel, which is both fascinating and a bit irresponsible. Rinn must go off her meds in order to connect with the ghost. At one point, she questions how far a reach the ghost has, which calls into question her own bipolar episodes. Nonetheless, despite some unexplored characters (why is one girl so mean, for example), some unnecessary verbiage (it takes Rinn much too long to figure out what she and her friends have in common), and some details that don't quite go anywhere, fans of Lauren Myracle's horror novels, such as Bliss (2008) or Rhymes with Witches (2005, both Abrams), and the "Final Destination" movie series will enjoy this psychological ghost story.-Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
Grades 8-12 Annaliese exists! In spite of everyone else's denials, Rinn is certain that the ghost of a girl killed in the school swimming pool 20 years before is real, and not only is she haunting the school but she's driving other teens to kill themselves. Is Rinn going crazy, or is what she's seeing real? Will forgoing her bipolar meds help her solve the mystery and bring peace to the angst-ridden ghost, or will it only increase her own instability? Garsee plays on our worst psychological insecurities in this eerie depiction of a new girl in town who is confronted with surreal events that force her to fear that her past mental illness is resurfacing. The authentic setting and breezy teenage repartee make the pool deaths, the bizarre parent personality changes, and the bully revenge even spookier. The Unquiet is a paranormal page-turner that will leave readers guessing as to what's real and what's imaginary, even after they close the book for the final time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)