Reaper

March 15, 2017
A white teenage girl discovers she must reap souls after she dies.Rosie Wolfe is 15 when she is fatally struck by a truck. She wakes up in a purgatorial hospital where she is informed that she must reap three souls before she is allowed to move on to paradise to join her father. After a makeover and some classes on how to collect souls, Rosie is sent back to live with Martha, a white reaper mentor. Rosie quickly breaks several reaper rules by crushing on a neighborhood Latino boy and trying to find her mother. She successfully reaps two adult souls but is conflicted about the third, a young girl that has been assigned to Rosie as punishment for her defiance. Will Rosie be able to finish the job? Some readers may cease to care due to the weak worldbuilding, in which the afterlife is stereotypically rendered as a nondescript hospital or office building, and the thinly drawn characters, who are mostly defined by their skin and hair color. Convenient coincidences (Martha was also Rosie's father's mentor; Rosie eats in a diner where her old best friend is now a waitress) further diminish an already prosaic plot. An also-ran in the genre; for a far more nuanced, philosophical examination of life and death, readers interested in reaping should consider Neal Shusterman's erudite Scythe (2016) instead. (Fantasy. 12-15)

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April 1, 2017
Gr 6 Up-Rosie is no stranger to death. She spent a year watching her father slowly die of cancer. Her best friend was little to no help with her grief. Her mom did all she could to help Rosie through her pain while dealing with her own feelings. Just as Rosie thinks she is finally getting back to normal, she finds herself in front of Death Herself. Seeing the world through Rosie's eyes is not easy, but readers will be swept away by Leigh's beautiful writing, which will have them turning page after page. Death is the greatest mystery in the world, and Rosie is in search of answers. Leigh takes the mythology of grim reapers and explores what it would be like if everyday people had to do the reaping. It's a question that will resonate with teens long after they've turned the last page. Rosie transforms from a stubborn child into a mature character who must grapple with her newfound power. As Leigh adeptly leads readers through this world, they will identify with Rosie and the secondary characters. This rumination on loss is a great discussion starter about life, death, and the afterlife. VERDICT A good purchase for large collections.-Rena Gibson, Ralph Ellison Library, Oklahoma City

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