Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery-not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior-and the silent treatment from everyone in town. The teens are all presumed White.įor two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience. The novel’s conclusion is satisfactory, but the real highlights here are the spooky sequences. As the scares pile up and the descent into madness moves forward, the characterization gets a bit crisper, but the first few chapters may pose a bit of a hurdle. Less effective is the characterization: As each chapter pivots perspectives, some readers may have to double back and sort out which of the troubled teens they’re following. The author effectively and slowly ratchets the tension and dread, crafting some cleverly frightening sequences that fans of the genre will love. But the frights really begin when a new girl arrives at school. But now, even after all these years have passed, each of them still sees a shape behind them whenever they look in a mirror. They were just having some spooky fun in Elena’s deceased grandmother’s room, after all. But these four fourth grade friends-Grace, Calvin, Elena, and Steph-didn’t count on their little game’s still affecting them five years later. Sometimes they say you’ll see the ghost’s face, and it means you will die young.

Sometimes, the legend says, you’ll see your true love. Teens endure fallout from a game of Bloody Mary.Įverybody’s done it at some point: You look in the mirror and repeat the name Bloody Mary.

Shawn sarles