Bliss

August 11, 2008
Catering to teens with a taste for horror, this carefully plotted occult thriller set in 1969–1970 combines genre staples with creepy period particulars. Raised on a commune, 14-year-old Bliss Inthemorningdew has been dumped by her hippie parents with her grandmother, a disapproving Atlanta matriarch who promptly enrolls her at the prestigious Crestview Academy. As Bliss watches The Andy Griffith Show
for its insights into conventional interactions (dialogue from the show and other ephemera separate the book’s short chapters), she observes the social scene with fascination and confusion, understanding neither the pull of the most popular girl nor the taboos against the class pariah (fans of Rhymes with Witches
will recognize one of the girls). Meanwhile, she keeps receiving extrasensory messages from spirits. Interspersed with Bliss’s first-person narrative are sinister journal entries from a student identified only by her initials, and these eventually dovetail with rumors about a long-ago suicide or murder at Crestview. Myracle throws in the Charles Manson Family murders, racism, ghosts, blood sacrifices and prom queens—and, remarkably, supports this outré mix with clever timing and well-placed red herrings. Ages 14–up.

October 1, 2008
Gr 9 Up-In the summer of 1969, hippie teenager Bliss in the Morning Dew sees her whole world turn upside down. One day, she is unceremoniously dropped at her grandmother's house in Atlanta after her parents decide to leave their commune and move to Canada. Now, not only does she need to get to know her grandmother, but she also has to learn the ways of the society she now inhabits. That includes attending the exclusive Crestview Academy. This might sound like a typical story of a girl getting to know a long-lost family member, but it's not. This story is straight-up horrorwith Bliss right in the center of the storm. The nice, polite, nonjudgmental teen has been singled out by one girl at schoola girl whose obsession with blood rituals borders on insanity. Lilliana was once a student at Crestview, but her mysterious death has long haunted the school. Yet, one girl believes that Lilliana can and must be brought back from the dead, and there's only one student who can helpBliss. However, the protagonist has some secrets of her own, and she's not going to let Lilliana return without a fight. Myracle also works in period references, including the "The Andy Griffith Show" and the Manson Family murders. Although the story drags a bit in the middle and Bliss seems a bit too forgiving of a new friend, this novel is sure to cause goose bumps all the way to the dramatic and surprising end."Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2008
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Its the summer of 1969, and Bliss has been unceremoniously dumped by her hippie parents into the custody of her grandmother. Soon Bliss finds herself adjusting to life as a freshman at a fancy Atlanta schooland its a lot different from life on the commune. Although she quickly finds normal friends, she is drawn to Sandy, a gruff and unpopular girl with a long-standing grudge against Sarah Lynn, the icy beauty of the freshman class. The push and pull of the school drama is engaging enough, but theres another element pressurizing the situation: an unsettling voice calling to Bliss from inside one of the school buildings, avoicesomehow related tostrange blood rituals and a long-ago suicide. Myracle is running on all cylinders here, exercising an agile teenage drama, a Stephen Kinglike yarn of high-school horror, a cautionary tale of 60s race relations, and some affecting social commentary: each chapter begins with a period media quote, and the startling mix of Andy Griffith and Charles Manson perfectlydistills the nations teetering into terror. The conclusionis a bit awkward, but the lead up is unbearably tense and will have readers buzzing about the audaciousplot twist that none of them saw coming.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)