7 Souls

Confusion reigns in this mashup of genres and perspectives from first-time collaborators Miller and Orlando. Mary Shayne is baffled; it's her 17th birthday, and what should be a perfect day for the reigning beauty at a chic Manhattan private school is not turning out at all as planned. She wakes up naked in a Crate and Barrel with a monstrous hangover and no memory of how she got there; her gorgeous boyfriend breaks up with her; and her lifelong best friends have forgotten her special day. And just when it looks like Mary's been "punk'd," her surprise party turns into a B-grade horror film. Why? Mary has no idea. Nor does the reader. The second half of the book, which blends Groundhog Day with Freaky Friday, is meant to reveal the mystery, but succeeds only in making the story steadily less credible. Miller and Orlando do wonderfully with scene descriptions and designer names, but there is nothing in the shallow characterizations of the first half to prop up the powerful depths of emotion invoked in the second half of this ill-knit narrative. Ages 14–up. (July)