Ghost - Howie Day

New Girl

Author: Paige Harbison
Pages: 314
ARC Acquired from: HarlequinTEEN via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
She didn't want to be the New Girl during her senior year of high school, but she could not turn her parents down. In middle school, when she was going through her Harry Potter phase, she begged to go to a boarding school, and picked out and applied to Manderley Academy in New Hampshire. Her devastation knew no bounds when she didn't get in, but she quickly got over it, made friends and came to love her public school in St. Augustine, Florida. Much to her surprise, her parents reveal that they have been secretly applying for her ever since and she has now gotten in. She hopes to make the best of it, but soon discovers that she is the replacement for a missing student, Becca, and that no one wants the New Girl, because they were all fascinated by Becca.

Review:
So freaking cool! And not just because it was set in New Hampshire...because it's cold there. Punned! Anyway, with this book, I pronounce myself a Paige Harbison fan. Last year, I read her debut Here Lies Bridget and I liked it, but it wasn't too much out of the ordinary. This one, though, just blew me away.

Why? Well, I've always had a weakness for books based on other books. New Girl is based on Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca, which I have not yet read. Unfortunately, I had to look up a summary on Wikipedia, because I did not want to miss any references. Hopefully, I will forget about some of the plot twists before I try to read the book.

Anywho, based on my extensive knowledge of Rebecca (aka Wikipedia article), Harbison did a really amazing job modernizing this. The transitions she made in some of the characters, like turning Mrs. Danvers into Dana, Becca's roommate who refuses to let her go, is quite clever, as is the changing of the scene with the dress.

The story is told alternatingly between the New Girl's perspective in first person and Becca's perspective in third person. You might think that sounds clunky, but it really wasn't. This makes the fact that you never learn the New Girl's actual name but are so familiar with Becca's completely natural; I didn't even notice until partway through. Of course, I wanted to punch Becca in the face the whole time, but I really liked New Girl.

For those who like clever teen lit, you'll probably quite enjoy this. It's full of drama and told in an interesting way. I also suspect that people who love Rebecca and don't ordinarily read teen lit will, at the very least, get a kick out of New Girl.

Rating: 4/5

"Lately I've been thinking,
Lately I've been dreaming with you
I'm so resistant to this type of thinking
Oh but now its shining through.
I was alone for the last time
Before my night's vacation with you
Alive from the first
Now I'm denied by the ghost of you"