Through to You

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Camden Pike is tortured by the recent death of his girlfriend, Viv, who died in the car accident that should have killed him instead. When he takes medication for depression, an enigmatic ghost girl appears before him on Viv's memorial street corner. Nina journeyed to Cam's world through a gateway in the exact location of the accident. Her realm is just like his, but in hers, Cam is dead and Viv breathes on. This is Cam's chance to defy the universe and reunite with the love of his life-or so he believes. The plot is comprised of a predictable Cam-Viv-Nina love triangle, with the mystical gateway being the only paranormal element. Cam is a stereotypical American teen: his emotional tumult is deftly handled and his grief-ridden obsession permeates his daily life, with plenty of unnecessary profanity peppering his narrative. Hainsworth's romantic fantasy thriller is sustaining, though lacking in literary merit. Readers would be more satisfied with Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy (Knopf).—Jamie-Lee Schombs, Loyola School, New York City