Book : Mister Deaths Blue-eyed Girls - Hahn, Mary Downing

-Titulo Original : Mister Deaths Blue-eyed Girls

-Fabricante :

HMH Books For Young Readers

-Descripcion Original:

Based on an actual crime in 1955, this YA novel is at once a mystery and a coming-of-age story. The brutal murder of two teenage girls on the last day of Nora Cunningham’s junior year in high school throws Nora into turmoil. Her certainties-friendships, religion, her prudence, her resolve to find a boyfriend taller than she is-are shaken or cast off altogether. Most people in Elmgrove, Maryland, share the comforting conviction that Buddy Novak, who had every reason to want his ex-girlfriend dead, is responsible for the killings. Nora agrees at first, then begins to doubt Buddy’s guilt, and finally comes to believe him innocent-the lone dissenting voice in Elmgrove. Told from several different perspectives, including that of the murderer, Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls is a suspenseful page-turner with a powerful human drama at its core. Review A Kirkus Best Teen Book of 2012 * An engrossing exploration of how a murder affects a community.- Kirkus Reviews, starred review This is a thinking-teens mystery.- Bulletin Hahn emphasizes the universality of growing up and facing death.- Horn Book * This wrenching novel offers an aggregate portrait of the effects of loss and grief, including both the strengthening and dissolution of relationships.- Publishers Weekly, starred review This creepy tale slowly and craftily builds tension . . . It has the added feature of offering a unique snapshot of life in the 1950s.- School Library Journal The veracity of this tragedy raises the stakes for readers who are already fans of Hahns supernatural fiction, and the coming-of-age component of Noras shattered naivete is all the more searing.- Bulletin From the Author This is the most difficult book Ive ever written, mainly because it is based loosely on my own experiences as a teenager. Writing it brought back memories as intense as the day they happened. When I sat down at the computer, I traveled straight back into the past. I remembered the words of songs Id never really forgotten, poetry and books and movies, the clothes we wore, the things we talked about -- and thought about, my feelings of inadequacy and insecurity, my increasing religious doubts, my uneasy relationship with my mother, and so on. Since it is unlike my other books, I challenged myself to experiment by using the present tense and employing multiple points of view-- very liberating. When I finally finished the book, I was very nervous about its reception. Would kids read it thinking it was a typical middle school ghost story? Would some be offended by Noras leaving the Church? Or by her curiosity about sex? Or the smoking and drinking? Would people who remembered the murders be upset by my factionalized treatment of the events set in motion that June morning in 1955? Well, I told myself, we write the stories we have to write. And this is the best book Ive ever written. At least I think so. About the Author Mary Downing Hahn’s many acclaimed novels include such beloved ghost stories as Wait Till Helen Comes, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, and Took. A former librarian, she has received more than fifty child-voted state awards for her work. She lives in Columbia, Maryland, with a cat named Nixi. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Thursday, June 14 Party in the Park Nora Despite the summer heat, I’m sprawled on my bed, radio turned up loud to get the full benefit of Little Richard singing Tutti Frutti. Dad’s not home from work and Mom’s outside hanging up the wash, so there’s nobody to scream Turn that radio down! The window fan blows warm air on my face. I close my eyes and drift off into a daydream about Don Appleton, a boy in my art class. I’ve loved him since eighth grade. Not that he knows it. Not that he loves me. Anyway . . . The car radio blasts Tutti Frutti, and the wind blows through my hair. Don smiles at me as he slides one arm around my should