Absent

February 25, 2013
Paige Wheeler died five months ago at her high school, and her ghost has been stuck there ever since. She hangs out with two other ghosts: Brooke, who died of a cocaine overdose in the girls’ bathroom a few months before Paige died, and Evan, who won’t reveal how and when he died. Confined to school grounds, the three deceased teenagers follow the lives of the living until a student suggests that Paige’s fall off the school’s roof was suicide. Paige is determined to preserve her eternal reputation and quash the rumor, and she discovers that when a person thinks about her, she can inhabit his or her body. She uses this ability to settle some old scores, and in the process uncovers the truth behind Brooke’s death, as well as her own. While Williams’s debut, The Space Between Trees, also revolved around untimely demise, her sophomore novel confronts the subject with incisive dark humor. The mystery of Paige’s death is a bit slow to unfold, but her sharp, poignant narration will keep readers engaged and entertained. Ages 14–up. Agent: Judy Heiblum, Sterling Lord Literistic.

March 15, 2013
Three dead teens "[s]ettle in for the world's longest detention" in this melancholy ghost story. Paige Wheeler died at 17 when she fell off the roof of the school during a misguided science experiment. Now trapped on the school grounds as a ghost, Paige spends her time drifting the halls with Brooke and Evan, two other ethereal teens. Paige is troubled by the rumor that she jumped instead of fell, and when she discovers she can inhabit the body of anyone who is thinking about her, she tries to use the ability to clear her name. But many of the attempts backfire, especially when it comes to making her best friend Usha paint a memorial mural of her or getting her "secret" hookup Lucas to admit that he and Paige were together. Paige's regret that she accepted less than the very best for herself will be a sobering reminder to readers not to take opportunities and relationships for granted. "What if I hadn't wasted my time--myself--on a guy who was only around for kisses in the trees?" Mostly a moody meditation on adolescent afterlife, the story morphs into a thriller when Paige discovers a vicious secret about one of her fellow spirits, which leads to an unexpectedly transcendent and moving finale. A somber tale that will make teens think twice. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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May 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-After falling off the roof during an egg-drop experiment for science class, Paige finds herself relegated to haunting the halls of the high school from which she'll never graduate. The 17-year-old is not alone, though, and finds new friends in Brooke and Evan, who also died on school grounds. Together they watch the students and wish for the lives they could have had. As the school year continues, popular girl Kelsey starts a rumor that Paige jumped and committed suicide. Desperate to somehow prove Kelsey's words false, Paige shadows her every move, until she discovers that she can inhabit, and manipulate, others. From Kelsey to her best friend to her secret ex-boyfriend, Paige possesses her classmates, trying over and over to quash Kelsey's hateful rumor. She finds that her actions have larger consequences, though, and that perhaps she is not the only one who has been dabbling in the art of possession. Williams presents readers with an engrossing supernatural story that feels genuine. The ghosts' despondency and Paige's quest for revenge and yearning for acknowledgment will ring true with teens. Readers will be engrossed until the very end, when the students, both living and dead, finally find what they need to move on.-Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
After Paige dies during physics class, she's stuck haunting her high school. When popular-girl Kelsey speculates that Paige's death was suicide, she begins to inhabit the bodies of other students in order to dispute the rumor. This compelling combination of ghost story, mystery, and unconventional romance builds to a dramatic, well-supported twist ending.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2013
After Paige dies during physics class, she's stuck haunting her high school. The afterlife is not much different from her previous life, it turns out: she and fellow teen ghosts Brooke and Evan spend their time attending class and gossiping. When popular Kelsey speculates that Paige's death was suicide, not an accident, Paige is so desperate to stop the rumor from spreading that she begins to inhabit the bodies of other students in order to dispute it. (And why not take a little revenge on Kelsey while she's at it?) These changes of perspective, however, reveal some unpleasant truths: Kelsey's not quite the lying bitch Paige would like to believe; Lucas, the boy Paige was hooking up with prior to her death, is definitely not a nice guy; and Paige isn't entirely sure that she didn't kill herself. This compelling combination of ghost story, mystery, and unconventional romance builds to a dramatic, well-supported twist ending. Williams's ghostly realm has fascinating parameters -- Paige is only able to inhabit others while they're thinking of her; it requires conscious thought to hover over the earth rather than sink into it; and if she tries to leave the school grounds she immediately returns to the spot where she died. While not always likable, Paige is certainly relatable, and her eventual redemption is satisfying. katie bircher

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)