I really loved Lisa McMann’s Wake trilogy, so I was thrilled to hear she had a new
teen/YA supernatural thriller out, Cryer’s Cross. This novel succeeds on two levels: as a
creepy ghost story and as a sensitive real-life portrait of a young girl with
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Kendall has lived all of her seventeen years in Cryer’s
Cross, Montana, a small farming community of only about 200 people. The quiet town was rocked the previous
spring when a young high school student disappeared and was never found. The tragedy also disturbed Kendall’s
OCD, but now she is struggling to get it back under control for the new school
year. Two new students join the
tiny high school, with just six students in each grade, when they move to their
grandfather’s farm.
When another student disappears, the town erupts in chaos
and heartbreak once again. Kendall
begins to hear strange voices and find mysterious graffiti on the desk of one
of the missing students that she finds strangely compelling. The creep factor multiples from there.
My 17-year old son and I listened to Cryer’s Cross on audio and absolutely loved it; the narrator,
Julia Whelan, an actress and award-winning audio reader, does a great job. In fact, my son enjoyed it so much that
he didn’t wait for me to finish it.
When we got back from our car trip partway through the audio, he
immediately picked up the hardcover book and finished reading the story that
same afternoon! He enjoyed
the suspense but also the many soccer passages.
It certainly is a spooky supernatural story, but I was most
impressed with the novel’s character development, especially the way it deals
with Kendall’s OCD. The author’s
acknowledgements say that she based the character of Kendall on her own
daughter with OCD “…in the hopes that others might understand or find some
comfort,” and I think she succeeds at that goal. In fact, the supernatural elements are almost beside the
point. We both thoroughly enjoyed
this multi-faceted teen novel.
4 comments:
I will have to try this on audio. So far I've liked everything else I've read by her.
This is one I have on my audio wish list, sound like I need to get it next. Great review!
Can't wait till my kids are old enough for this stuff!
I hear ya, Peryl! I have always enjoyed sharing books with my kids - from old favorite picture books through Narnia right through to teen thrillers now! Lots of fun.
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