The Liar Society

Gr 7—10—The past year has been a nightmare for Kate as she mourns the accidental death of her best friend, Grace, and the estrangement of her other friend, Maddie. Sitting alone in her bedroom, Kate receives an email from Grace telling her that she is still here and that Kate must help her. Kate then suspects that Grace's death was more than just an accident and that the answers reside within the walls of the prestigious Pemberly Brown Acadamy that Kate attends. The strange emails keep coming offering her clues, but Grace also appears to Kate as ghostly apparitions. Kate delves deeper into the academy's secrets and recruits two fellow classmates, Seth and Liam, to help her track down clues and mourn her friend. While the pacing of the book and atmospheric setting keep the pages turning, there is nothing surprising in the story. Kate is endearing enough, but there are no clever plotting elements and no new character twists, and the ending relies heavily on stereotypically clueless parents.—Mindy Whipple, West Jordan Library, UT