Hysteria

February 18, 2013
As in Miranda's debut, Fracture, this eerie tale centers on a heroine broken and transformed by a deeply traumatic experience. The police called it "justifiable homicide," but Mallory Murphy isn't certain: she can't remember exactly what happened the night she killed her boyfriend, Brian. Mallory is ostracized by Brian's friends, her sleep is haunted by a terrifying presence, and Brian's grieving mother has turned into a deranged stalker. The teenager attempts to make a fresh start at a New Hampshire boarding school, but Monroe Prep turns out to contain both friends and enemies, and it's not always clear where Mallory's paranoid distrust ends and real danger begins. Worse, Mallory hasn't escaped the specter in her dreams, and her bloody history is an open secret, making her the prime suspect when a student is cruelly murdered. Miranda's enveloping prose style and the story's sinuous plot result in a thriller that questions the reliability of memory, the insidiousness of guilt, and what it truly means to be haunted. Ages 12âup. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary.