When by Victoria Laurie

When
by Victoria Laurie

My teenage daughter recommended I read this one.  I like to read what my kids are reading sometimes - to check it out, see what they like, and just make sure it isn't 50 Shades of anything inappropriate (of course, if it was I am sure they would NOT be recommending it to me, haha!).

I am so glad she lent me this story.  As young adult non-series fiction goes, this was really good. Tightly written, suspenseful, and a couple of twists I did not see coming.  I love it when a book is not totally predictable!!

Maddie is 16 with a single mom and a special ability - she sees people's death dates.  That's right, just above everyone's forehead are up to 8 digits that represent the day that person will die.  She never knows how or why, but she is never wrong.  Down on their luck, she and her mom offer her services for a fee to supplement their growing debts.  But this causes trouble when she predicts the death of a client's child for the following week, only to have that child go missing the day before.  She tries to figure out how to save the boy, but suddenly, Maddie is a suspect.  How did she know?  Is this a hoax?  Could she and her best friend Stubs be responsible??

The situation continues to spiral, and circumstantial evidence becomes damning.  Luckily her Uncle Donny is a good lawyer, but even he is unsure how to save them.  Maddie is guilt ridden - could she have done more?  And can someone's date be changed if she tries hard enough?   Her angst is truly felt - she is a scared teenager in an impossible situation, and I did not mind that she cried a lot - I would too!!  Her friendship with Stubs is the typical bonding of awkward outsiders, as she has no other girlfriends to speak of and is ostracized at school because people think she's a witch. But I love how Stubs stands by her and "gets" her ability.  So there are elements of bullying by students as well as school administrators that ring very true - once associated with the missing boy, everyone assumes Maddie is guilty and treats her as such.  She feels ruined.  And alone.

This is the author's first young adult book (she has written more than 30 books, many with a paranormal bent - she is a professional psychic herself, cool!!!), but I sure hope it is not her last.