REVIEWS

"Shades of Simon Gray is a brilliant combination of mystery, fantasy, history and gritty realism. This is a book that doesn't let up for a minute, pulling the reader in with a fast-paced blend of past and present." ~ teenreads.com

"Written with considerable narrative skill, the supernatural elements are so cleverly integrated that the ending is both satisfying and convincing. A page-turning plot, good characterization, and very convincing setting will have this suspenseful thriller driving up library circulation." ~Kirkus Reviews

"This captivating story is about deception and guilt--but most of all, it's about the lengths we'll go to in order to belong." ~Seventeen

"an eerie and compelling tale . . . . A rousing booktalk should have this story flying off shelves into the hands of teens who enjoy suspense with a twist of the supernatural." ~ VOYA

"McDonald's atmospheric and effectively paced opening will suck readers right into this mysterious half-fantasy world of the repressed, old wrongs righted, and computer crime . . ." ~The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Simon . . . is a thoughtful, interesting character. McDonald . . . paints an eerie, electric atmosphere of menace that lingers past the final page." ~Publishers Weekly

" . . . McDonald ably maintains suspense . . . . The author blends elements of ghost story, thriller and (unrequited) romance in this spooky tale . . . " ~The Horn Book

" . . . dark secrets past and present are released into the air like a flock of crows." ~Washington Post

"Joyce McDonald weaves truth and lies, guilt and innocence into a chillingly effective web." ~Infodad.com

"Joyce McDonald has done a super job; she's up-to-date without being trendy, and her prose is simple and straightforward, but not dumbed-down. Teens will find this book relevant and true. McDonald covers a lot of bases and has some opportunities to be preachy, yet refuses to do so, letting readers make their own judgments . . . . McDonald . . . show[s] us . . . that we all are the sum of the choices we make. An admirable trait in a book for young people." ~Read the complete review from BookPage.com

ABOUT THE BOOK:

For more than two hundred years the town of Bellehaven has harbored a sinister secret. Then one night Simon Gray crashes his Honda into an ancient oak--a tree the kids at school call the Hanging Tree--and strange events begin to plague the town. Suddenly the lives of Simon and his friends, who have been hiding their own dark secret, begin to unravel.

Trapped in a coma, Simon is unaware that the police are investigating a possible computer hacking incident at the high school. No one believes that Simon Gray could be involved. He is every parent's ideal teenager--smart, reliable, hardworking, trustworthy. Or is he? Meanwhile, in his comatose state, Simon seems to be making a few discoveries of his own through conversations with a man who was hanged for murder two hundred years ago, from the same tree Simon smashed into. Could there be a connection?

The choices we make can have far-reaching consequences for us and for the people we love. And sometimes we can't tell innocence from guilt, accident from design. Set in a small town gone slightly haywire, Joyce McDonald's eerie, suspenseful tale of hidden crimes, secret passions, and selfish lies--both in the distant past and the present--explores with subtlety and uncanny insight that most intricate of landscapes: the human soul.

Copyright © 2001 by Joyce McDonald
No portion of this text may be reprinted without permission from the publisher, Delacorte Press,
a division of Random House, Inc.

Read an excerpt >>>

..............................................................................................

home l bio l books l appearances l links l contact