My Second Life

Gr 8 Up—Emma was born, Emma lived, and Emma died. Ana was born, Ana lived, and Ana remembers her first life as Emma. These memories of her first life aren't happy, and they don't help Ana understand boys or cope with teenage angst. Instead, these memories remind her that when she lived the first time around, she may or may not have had a hand in the death of someone close to her. When a person from her past life shows up in her current one, Ana has to figure out how to deal with her past choices while living her current ones. While the concept is intriguing and the mystery of just what Ana did while she was Emma is captivating, the story itself is slow to unfold and often drags. The exciting moments and plot twists are not enough to distract from overwrought melodrama and cliches. Overall, despite a unique concept of reincarnation and multidimensional characters, the book would be hard pressed to find a readership in most libraries.