Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez 

Confession: Of the books I’ve been reading in preparation for the author visits on April 16, this is my favorite! Quick, entertaining, and very smart—Marlene Perez makes fun of all the tried and true clichés about teens and the supernatural, high schools and cliques, and young romance.

I like the protagonist, Daisy Giordano. She’s the only ‘non-psychic’ in a family of women with ESP, telekinetic powers and the ability to help solve crimes. She’s sleuthing throughout the book, determined to help solve a murder and several attacks in the city of Nightshade—a small fictional town somewhere in the Bay Area (the teens hang out in Santa Cruz). Meanwhile, Daisy finds herself a great boyfriend and makes the cheerleading squad when some of the girls on the squad fall mysteriously ill.

All of the problems seem to have started with Samantha, Nightshade High’s It Girl, who comes back from summer vacation looking dead and dragging a scaled down coffin around very day. As more and more girls take on the dead look, and then actually become fatally ill, Daisy discovers she has powers she’d never realized.

And a note to reluctant readers: the book checks in at 208 pages, just eight pages over that magical must have at least 200 pages marker!

See you on Saturday, April 16 at 1 PM in the Ontario Senior Center. Maybe I can get Marlene Perez to sign a few copies of her book for our libraries.