Bad Hair Day

Clifford B. Hicks’s immortal Alvin Fernald has a 21st-century analogue in Kate Grable, a “semi-reformed nerd” and medical buff who carries her own scalpels in a pink case. At age 17, she’s already a CNN celebrity, having helped to develop and then cure the so-called “zombie virus” in Harris’s Bad Taste in Boys (2011). With college applications in Kate’s sights, she is participating in a job-shadowing program at the local health department when her mentor, the county medical examiner, is arrested for murder, leaving Kate and a pathology assistant to keep the morgue running. It’s a busy place: mysterious attacks are occurring at a rapid clip, with only clumps of hair as evidence—and lots of it. With a deep background in CSI episodes and a stalwart quarterback for a boyfriend, however, there’s no need to fear—Kate can solve this mystery and get into a good premed program. It’s a lightweight but entirely enjoyable read; if not for the explicit crime scenes and occasional profanity, Kate’s smart-mouthed commentary and gory preoccupations would be right on target for younger readers. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kate Schafer Testerman, KT Literary. (Nov.)