But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior-and the silent treatment from everyone in town. She makes Harper the butt of the jokes but always shows the girl’s sympathetic side so that readers can laugh with her rather than at her.įor two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience. Calonita keeps the narration bubbly and pitched just right for her pre- and early-teen audience, with plenty of comedy and a gentle message about superficiality. Desperate to gain friends, Harper plots to win a contest to get a popular rock star to shoot a video at the camp-a girl Harper secretly actually knows. One sympathetic girl, Lina, tries to help, but when Harper finally goes too far, even Lina quits talking to her. She’s terrified of imaginary spiders and bears and remains resolutely nonathletic. She begins by losing a contest her cabin should have won, blowing out the fuses and using up all the hot water.

No wonder, as Harper has carted in luggage full of hair products, expensive T-shirts and impractical shoes. She had expected to spend the summer in Cancun but instead finds herself in a creaky wooden cabin with fellow campers who don’t seem to like her much. Almost-15-year-old Harper thinks only of fashion until her dad sees her credit-card bill and packs her off to summer camp for a needed lifestyle change.Īs the daughter of a suddenly rich music-video producer, Harper spends money without thought.

Summer State of Mind by Jen Calonita