Teo and her own daughter, Emilia, at an
Ethiopian coffee plantation just as Haile
Selassie takes power—and as Mussolini’s
troops prepare for an invasion. The novel,
which opens with the knowledge that
Teo is missing, is constructed as a series
of letters, school essays, flight logs, and
excerpts of fantasy stories written by Teo
and Emilia, all of which Emilia is
sending to Selassie in a plea for help.
While the conceit tests credulity, Wein
brings this fascinating period in history
to life with several well-engineered plot
twists, lots of high-flying, nail-biting
tension, and meticulous research. Ages
12–up. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis
Brown. (Mar.)
Dead to Me
Mary McCoy. Hyperion, $17.99 (304p) ISBN
978-1-4231-8712-7
McCoy debuts with a gritty, noir-style
thriller about the Gates sisters, two
teenagers coming of age in Los Angeles
during Hollywood’s Golden Age. After
four years apart, 16-year-old Alice finds
her older sister, Annie, in a hospital bed
after being beaten close to death. With
the help of a private investigator, Alice
works to untangle the events leading up
to her sister’s attack, plunging into a
seamy world of dangerous movie stars
and the henchmen who will do anything
to please them. Although McCoy keeps
noir archetypes alive and well, from
dirty cops engaged in cover-ups to ink-stained reporters hungry for their next
scoop, she develops her characters well
beyond facsimiles of black-and-white
Rita Hayworth–esque figures on darkened street corners. Far from damsels in
distress, McCoy’s heroines are fierce crusaders for justice despite their own fears
or the dangers they face in protecting
each other. The examination of the
glamorous face of fame and what lurks
behind the scenes is rife with twists to
keep Alice and readers guessing. Ages
12–up. Agency: Hannigan Salky Getzler
Agency. (Mar.)
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
Paige McKenzie, with Alyssa Sheinmel.
Weinstein, $16 (304p) ISBN 978-1-60286-272-2
Upon turning 16, Sunshine Griffith
suddenly develops the power to perceive
paranormal activity and comes to the
chilling realization that her new home in
rainy Washington State is haunted by a
girl who was brutally murdered and the
demon responsible for her death. First in a
series based on a popular You Tube series,
this adaptation attempts to turn quick-
cut video special effects into a gripping
tale. On paper, the pace grows tedious as
Sunshine’s internal monologue flits
among concerns about her busy mother’s
frequent absences, boys, and the increas-
ingly creepy events taking place in her
house. Coupled with contrived banter,
confusingly interspersed musings of an
omniscient narrator watching over
Sunshine’s life, and a penchant for
blatantly laying out what
Sunshine is feeling (“ I’m not sad
anymore. I’m angry”), the novel’s
attempt to build mystery and sus-
pense around Sunshine’s new-
found ability falls short. There are
some harrowing scenes, as when
the ghost destroys the family
bathroom, but by and large the
story’s chills are on the light side.
Ages 12–up. Agent: Mollie Glick,
Foundry Literary + Media. (Mar.)
The Kidney Hypothetical:
Or How to Ruin Your Life in
Seven Days
Lisa Yee. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99 (272p)
ISBN 978-0-545-23094-0
The downward spiral of popular high-school senior Higgs Boson Bing, named
after the elusive “God particle,” begins
when a classmate asks him a hypothetical
question about his willingness to donate a
kidney to his girlfriend, Roo. Higgs’s hesitant answer does not bode well for his
relationship with Roo, resulting in their
breakup and a full-blown hate campaign
against him. Now all of Higgs’s accolades—debate team captain, prom king,
co-valedictorian, etc.—carry little
weight, with someone at school bent on
ruining his life with pranks, brutal criticisms, and more. Suddenly friendless,
Higgs feels hopeless until he meets
Monarch, a girl who has taken up residence in an abandoned Airstream trailer.
Monarch doesn’t offer Higgs pity but
rather hard questions that force him to
rethink himself and his future. Alternately
heart-wrenching and hilarious (“The Asian
Jewish English American thing was a real
stumper when it came to filling out my
college applications,” Higgs reflects),
Yee’s (Absolutely Maybe) portrait of a
flawed superstar introduces a cast of
vibrant, memorable characters and an elo-
quent message about following one’s
desires. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer,
Writers House. (Mar.)
★ Mosquitoland
David Arnold. Viking, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-
0-451-47077-5
Newcomer Arnold’s protagonist,
16-year-old Mim Malone, is as hold-
nothing-back honest as they come, which
makes the narrative she
provides about her out-
landish trek from
Mississippi to Cleveland
wholly enjoyable. Mim,
blind in one eye from a
solar eclipse and suffering
from a “misplaced epi-
glottis” that results in
unpredictable spells of
vomiting, is reeling from
her parents’ divorce and
an unclear psychiatric
diagnosis when she is dragged to
Mississippi by her father and new step-
mother. Determined to get back to her
mother, Mim hops a bus to Cleveland,
beginning an Odysseus-like adventure
that introduces a delightfully eclectic cast
of characters, who are made all the more
memorable by Mim’s descriptions (“ I’ve
only known two other Carls in my life-
time—an insurgent moonshiner and a
record store owner—both of whom taught
me important... life lessons. In my book,
Carls are a top-notch species”). There is no
shortage of humor in Mim’s musings,
interspersed with tender scenes and a few
heart-pounding surprises. Mim’s trium-
phant evolution is well worth the journey.
Ages 12–up. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers
House. (Mar.)
★ Shadow Scale
Rachel Hartman. Random, $18.99 (608p)
ISBN 978-0-375-86657-9
In this strong follow-up to 2012’s
Seraphina, Hartman continues the adventures of that book’s eponymous half-dragon, who is now assigned with finding
and uniting her fellow “ityasaari” before
the full-blooded dragons can resolve their
