Ripper

February 27, 2012
Reeves’s debut is a chilling reimagining of London in 1888, haunted by Jack the Ripper. After Arabella Sharp’s mother dies suddenly, the 17-year-old moves from Dublin to an affluent London neighborhood where her grandmother lives. In an attempt to civilize Arabella, her grandmother makes her volunteer at White­chapel Hospital in the city’s dodgy East End. It’s hardly punishment: Arabella enjoys helping the patients, who are mostly prostitutes, but she begins to have visions of a chalice, hooded men, and gruesome murders of patients that she cannot stop in time; it’s up to Arabella to discover the killer’s ties to her family before he strikes again. Meanwhile, she develops an intense crush on one of the doctors, and a police inspector asks for her help with an investigation. Reeves offers a determined and free-thinking heroine in Arabella, and the ending suggests readers haven’t seen the last of her. Along with recent takes on Ripper lore from Maureen Johnson and Stefan Petrucha, Reeves’s story should help sustain interest in this grisly 19th-century mystery. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jessica Sinsheimer, Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency.

March 15, 2012
A rebellious young woman of high station finds her calling--and much more--volunteering in an East London hospital just as the Jack the Ripper murders commence. Abbie Sharp, newly orphaned, finds herself chafing under the restrictions imposed by her snooty grandmother, who threw her mother out years before for her wild ways. Grandmother's attempt to teach Abbie responsibility by making her work at the charity hospital backfires when the girl becomes increasingly interested in the welfare of its prostitute patients. Abbie, meanwhile, finds herself more reliant on the street-fighting skills she picked up in Dublin than she ever expected. And she's also having visions... What could they mean? Narrator Abbie is a boilerplate spunky heroine, and she falls into an equally formulaic romance with a prickly-but-deep handsome physician. Debut author Reeves holds a PhD in 19th-century British literature, and she brings her research to bear on the background story. She appears to have decided not to apply it to her prose, however, which is littered with colloquially modern constructions ("I am simply going to have to be all right with..."; "[it] was fine with me"). Abbie performs astonishing feats of athleticism without ever being hampered by her skirt. Moreover, the paranormal twist feels wrenched into place. For more effective reboots of the Jack the Ripper legend, try Maureen Johnson's The Name of the Star (2011) or Stefan Petrucha's Ripper (2012). Skip. (Paranormal historical fiction. 12 & up)

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May 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-Arabella Sharp, orphaned at 17, has come to stay with her only living relative, a grandmother she has never met. Lady Charlotte and her daughter, Abbie's mother, had been estranged since before Abbie's birth. Having grown up on the rough-and-tumble streets of Dublin, where her mother scraped by as a governess, Abbie feels constrained by the status-conscious lifestyle of the Kensington district of London, where her grandmother's mansion is located. Convinced that a little hard labor will make her errant granddaughter appreciate the comforts of upper-class life, Lady Charlotte arranges for the teen to spend some time toiling at Whitchapel Hospital, under the direction of Dr. Bartlett, a family friend. At the hospital, Abbie discovers that her combination of brains, street smarts, and inquisitiveness makes her a natural for the medical field. Just as she feels she has found her niche, London is rocked by a series of gruesome murders, all connected to the hospital. Much to Abbie's horror, she discovers that she has a psychic connection to the killer, Jack the Ripper, and sees visions of each crime. Soon she finds herself pursued by the murderer, a cabal of immortals, and two handsome doctors. Abbie is a strong, smart heroine who chafes at the sexist constraints of 19th-century English society. An entertaining mystery with plenty of action and a touch of the paranormal.-Anthony C. Doyle, Livingston High School, CA

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