The Little Woods

June 15, 2012
A quirky teen sharpens her sleuthing skills and endures boarding school drama as she attempts to solve mysteries old and new. Cally's sister Clare disappeared from the grounds of swanky St. Bede's Academy 10 years ago, and now, for reasons even she can't articulate, Cally has chosen to attend the prestigious boarding school herself. Arriving on campus midyear as a scholarship student, Cally struggles to fit in with her super-privileged classmates, who regularly flout administration rules--sneaking out after last bed-check for sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll--but adhere to a strict, self-created code that seems random at best. Cally quickly becomes obsessed with the disappearance of her roommate Helen's previous roommate, Iris Liang. When Helen, Cally and several other friends discover Iris' decomposing corpse in a cave in the creepy woods off campus, paranoia and rumors grip the school, rendering St. Bedes' typically hothouse atmosphere claustrophobic. Could Iris' death be connected with Clare's? How utterly unexpected! Meanwhile, Cally's eventful love life--she's caught between Big Man on Campus Alex and brooding, witty Jack--threatens to crowd out her attempts to resolve the girls' mysterious disappearances. Exposition-heavy and packed with credulity-straining coincidences and red herrings, the plot lumbers unsatisfyingly toward resolution. Quasi-supernatural murder mystery? Sexy teen noir? Boarding school bildungsroman? This mess of a novel doesn't know what it wants to be. (Mystery. 14-17)

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September 1, 2012

Gr 10 Up-St. Bede's Academy is one of the most prestigious boarding schools in California. It is also the place where Calista Wood's older sister, Clare, disappeared 10 years earlier. Half way through her junior year, Cally finds herself navigating the world of brilliant and wealthy teenagers at the academy on a full scholarship. Iris, a beautiful student, has recently and mysteriously gone missing, much like Clare. Cally thinks there may be a connection and she delves into the secrets of the school and the surrounding woods. "Sometimes it seemed to me that a fine curtain hung between St. Bede's and those woods, and that if I could only find a way through it....I could find Clare." Cally is offbeat and likable. The student body includes the typical cast of mean girls, hot guys, and provocative teachers that keeps the plot moving along. However, the teen cliques; love triangles; and wild parties with sex, alcohol, and drugs make the story feel like it has been done and done again. The ending is exciting but predictable. Purchase for libraries with insatiable mystery readers.-Mindy Whipple, West Jordan Library, UT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 Boarding school and murders have long been literary bedfellows, and a proud tradition carries on with this smart, moody debut. During her junior year, 17-year-old Cally transfers to elite St. Bede's, the site of her sister's vanishing 10 years earlier, as well as a more recent disappearance. Investigation is not her intent; rather, it is regular old social integration. Each friend and potential lover she meets is something of an enigma, but in Templeman's hands this evasiveness is a boon, as she jukes expectation and stereotypes at every turn. Much like Jenny Hubbard's Paper Covers Rock (2011), this is a mystery that doesn't read like one. It's powered by a protagonist whose unsentimental demeanor is a jolt of fresh air at a time when so many similar leads would writhe around in their own sense of tragedy. (Sample sentence: The four of them and their fancy brunch could fuck off. ) After such an intelligent buildup (words like hypoxic and gnosis fly fast and furious), the killer-reveals-all conclusion is a disappointment. Templeman, though, is a talent to watch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)