VOYA - Alissa Lauzon
Liz Valchar thought she had it all—beauty, popularity, money. Things change quickly, however, the morning she is awakened by a persistent thumping noise and discovers her body hitting the side of the yacht where she had been celebrating her eighteenth birthday with her closest friends. Liz has no memory of what happened to her and is forced to rely on the help of Alex Berg, a boy from her high school who was killed by a hit-and-run driver a few months earlier, to piece together the mystery of her death. As Liz observes life after her death and begins to revisit memories, readers will quickly discover that nothing about Liz's life is what it seemed. Warman has created another dynamic and interesting character. Liz is so much more than the stereotypical popular, rich girl that she initially appears to be. Her story starts with a bang and draws readers in immediately. Part ghost story, part mystery, part coming-of-age, Warman has blended a variety of appeal elements to attract a variety of readers. While elements of the mystery are well-foreshadowed and predictable, there are still enough unexpected twists to maintain the intensity of the mystery. Though the story is familiar, there are enough new elements to help it stand out in the pack of stories of dead girls needing to make amends. Pass this on to fans of If I Stay (Speak, 2010/VOYA February 2009), The Lovely Bones (Little, Brown, 2002/VOYA December 2002), and Before I Fall (HarperCollins, 2010/VOYA April 2010). Reviewer: Alissa Lauzon
Between
by Jessica WarmanView All Available Formats & Editions
Elizabeth Valchar-pretty, popular, perfect- wakes up after spending her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht to investigate a thumping noise. What she finds will change everything she thought she knew about her life, her friends, and everything in between. As Liz begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding her birthday night, she will find that no
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Elizabeth Valchar-pretty, popular, perfect- wakes up after spending her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht to investigate a thumping noise. What she finds will change everything she thought she knew about her life, her friends, and everything in between. As Liz begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding her birthday night, she will find that no one around her, least of all Liz herself, was perfect-or innocent.
Editorial Reviews
VOYA - Mary Boutet
This novel is like Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall if it had been a murder mystery. The characters were all shades of gray; no one was perfect but it was impossible to completely condemn anyone either. The boot metaphor with Liz, while sometimes a little too obvious, was ultimately a very clever and interesting motif. Combined with Liz's running, it was especially cool. The intimacy between Alex and Liz while they shared their memories was beautiful. Alex's journey shows that peace comes from forgiveness rather than revenge; he did not spend his time haunting Liz but instead stuck around to help her discover the truth about her own death. Liz learned much about what it means to be a good person, as well as what it means to let go. There is a lot to think about while reading this book, the least important being who-done-it (even though that is fun, too). 4Q, 4P. Reviewer: Mary Boutet, Teen ReviewerChildren's Literature - Caitlyn Payne
"I know it sounds hypocritical since we've been drinking but...we're good kids." At least, that is what Elizabeth believed before she died and found herself looking down at her body floating in the water. Elizabeth is a ghost, and she has no idea how she died or why. She is "between"—not in an afterlife, but no longer living. And now Elizabeth has a task: to unravel the story of how she died. As Elizabeth begins to examine what happened to cause her untimely death at 18, she is joined by Alex, the ghost of a boy from her school who died the previous year, and says he is connected to Elizabeth. When Elizabeth and Alex start uncovering the clues to Elizabeth's demise, they find more secrets—and learn hard truths—than either expected. What Elizabeth learns will forever alter her perception of her life, her family, and the lives of her friends. This is not a light read. The novel covers topics ranging from death and anorexia to drugs, sex, and blackmail. Warman does not pull any punches in her exploration of Elizabeth's relationships and interactions, whether it is about her conflicted memories of her long-gone mother, her competitive relationship with her stepsister, or her battle to control every aspect of her own life as it spirals out of control. The book often has a soap opera feel, where the characters are nothing more than the high school archetypes—the difference being they are super-rich archetypes, who party on yachts. The reader hopes that through the story Liz will grow and develop as a character to the point where she can honestly reflect on the actions of her life, but that never happens. As someone who works with teenagers on a daily basis, I am always searching for books to recommend they read. But if any of them ever picked up Between, I would encourage them to put it back on the shelf. The lack of reader investment in Liz, the drug references and partying, and a protagonist who makes terrible decisions for herself prevent me from wanting to hand this book to someone and say "try this one." Reviewer: Caitlyn PayneSchool Library Journal
Gr 10 Up—In this tale of two teens who meet in the afterlife, Warman cleverly intertwines Elizabeth Valchar and Alex Berg's budding friendship with flashbacks to their small hometown in suburban Connecticut. A dead mother, a workaholic father who drinks too much, and rumors that her stepsister is actually her half sister all conspired to make popular Liz one unhappy rich girl. By contrast, Alex was a nobody, shunned by her crowd. As each character seeks answers to the unsolved mysteries of their tragic deaths, a story with two ghosts as protagonists turns into a suspenseful whodunit. Readers interested in wandering souls will find these two hard to resist. Some of Alex's virtue could have built Liz more character, but Alex lacks nerve-which Liz, with her arrogance and sense of entitlement, possesses in abundance. Already dead a year, Alex has had experience as a time-traveling ghost and that makes him a reluctant guide when Liz arrives fresh from her demise after a night of drinking and doing drugs on her family's boat. Together they sample a full menu of past and present nightmares (to the loss of a parent in childhood add anorexia, robbery, hit-and-run driving, and sexual exploitation), any one of which might have explained why Elizabeth jumped-or was pushed-to her death. The answers they seek can be found in the Ten Commandments, but Between lets readers dabble in a full accounting of tragedy, perversity, and drama instead. Some plot twists strain credibility, but the novel's surprising resolution rings true.—Georgia Christgau, Middle College High School, Long Island City, NYKirkus Reviews
Drowned on her 18th birthday, a rich, popular girl struggles to discover what happened and learns some unpleasant truths.
Liz has always been a golden girl, the center of the most popular clique in her tony Connecticut suburb. Drowning is bad enough, but it's even worse that she has to share her afterlife with poor-kid Alex, killed in a hit-and-run several months ago, who takes pleasure in showing her what a bitch she is—or at least was. Warman introduces readers and her protagonist to the girl Liz was gradually and simultaneously. In her afterlife, ghosts have hazy memories, so Liz's understanding of her life is incomplete. With Alex's help (he's a pro at being dead), Liz learns that her family was not as perfect as she wants to believe and that she was mixed up in some seriously bad stuff. She also learns that she was shockingly, horrifically shallow. For much of the book the mystery surrounding Liz's death is subsumed in her growing recognition of her frankly unlikable personality. That readers will like her ghostly persona despite her unpleasant living one is testament to Warman's skill. While they will figure out the mystery before Liz does, they will appreciate her growth if not the rather tidy ending.
A rich and compelling character study wrapped around a mystery. (Mystery. 14-18)
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780802733863
- Publisher:
- Walker & Company
- Publication date:
- 08/07/2012
- Pages:
- 480
- Sales rank:
- 231,709
- Product dimensions:
- 5.62(w) x 8.08(h) x 1.27(d)
- Age Range:
- 12 - 17 Years
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