Burnout

Gr 9 Up—Nan has been clean for awhile now. After months of drinking heavily that culminated in a night when she almost died, she willingly went to rehab, got sober, and went home. But now she's waking up in the subway in a Halloween costume gone wrong, skeleton makeup on her face, and absolutely no idea how she got there or what happened the day before. Did she relapse or is something sinister going on? And, what happened to her friend Seemy? In this exciting and fast-paced thriller, readers get to know Nan through a series of flashbacks that are interspersed with the nightmare she's in now—scared, alone, and unable to remember anything from the day before. She tries to retrace her steps as best she can by going back to places that were important to her and Seemy before she went to rehab and she and Seemy drifted apart. Although at first readers might think that all that's important is the mystery of Nan and Halloween night, they will soon be pulled in not only by Nan's current predicament, but also by the chain of events that led to her implied downfall. The book serves as an in-depth analysis of Nan herself, and readers will become engrossed in her story and the decisions that led her to this breaking point. The novel is gripping and will keep readers glued to their seats, wanting to know if Nan will ever remember what really happened on that terrifying night.—Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR