Bound To Stay Bound

Bulletin for the Center... - 11/01/2012 One minute Charlotte gets a hard push from behind on a subway platform, and the next she’s waking up in a hotel lobby, where a girl named Nancy helpfully informs her that she’s dead and that she will need to stay in the hotel until she can find her murderer. If she succeeds, she will receive a key that will open a door to the next phase of eternity, but since no one who has ever gone through the door has ever returned, details about what’s on the other side are rather sketchy. As Charlotte gets her bearings, she learns that she and Nancy have company in this motel of mysteries, namely a stylish, somewhat shallow girl named Lorna, a surly, disgruntled girl named Tess, and the inevitable brooding-but-dateworthy dead guy named Edison. Nancy and Lorna, with the reluctant help of Tess, help the newly murdered solve their cases so that they can pass on, but they themselves either can’t solve their own or have decided that they prefer to stay on this side of the door for personal reasons. Charlotte’s case unfolds in a rather humorous high school romance plot, as she watches her supposedly loving and loyal boyfriend accept the consolation of no fewer than three cheerleaders; in fact, despite the grim circumstances, this is a mostly light-hearted and comic take on murder and mayhem, with copious Ghostbusters references and an afterlife romance for Charlotte in the offing. The logic is frustratingly inconsistent, however, with the ghosts’ abilities bafflingly variable, and the plot takes too many detours on the way to solving Charlotte’s murder. Nonetheless, crossover fans of detective fiction and fantasy will find these blithe spirits appealing. KC - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2012 Gr 4–8—Ten transitional-length chapter books in one weighty volume recount the adventures of the wacky West family as told from the point of view of cousin Michael. An only child with seriously overprotective parents, he is thrilled when his aunt, uncle, five boisterous cousins, and pets of all shapes and sizes move close by. His own household is quiet, refined, and more than a little restrictive. Much to his parents' dismay, he attempts to visit the West gang as often as possible. They welcome him with open arms into their loud and loving, messy and slightly wild lives. Young readers (and boys in particular) will enjoy their repeated exploits involving everything from potty humor and worm farms to barfing carloads of kids and creepy campfire tales. Set in New Zealand, but loaded with universal appeal, these zany tales will please fans of goofy family stories. Pye's lively black-and-white pencil illustrations enliven the first page of each new adventure.—Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library - Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.