ADVANCE BOOK REVIEW- ABSENT By: Kate Williams

When seventeen-year-old Paige dies from a fall off the roof of her high school, her ghost haunts the grounds only to find that her fellow students don't believe her death was an accident.  When Paige figures out a way to inhabit the bodies of the living she attempts to right the wrongs she's left behind.

One of the first things that struck me is that while this book is a rather slim one it manages to feel complete and full of characters that are so very real.  Paige's fellow ghosts of the school- Evan and Brooke- are rich characters alive as can be with their authentic and diverse reflections on life and death.  All three are an achingly real example of the time in our lives when we're just getting started but the reality of death becomes real whether you're a ghost or not.

Paige had the murkiest identity of the three, but I felt that it helped the book as you could put yourself in the narorrator's shoes easily.  Just as colorful and heartfelt are the friends and peers Paige left behind.  Particularly the burner- Wes- who Paige never noticed, but definitely noticed her.  

The most important thing about this book for me is that it is the most genuine depiction of High School I've seen in ages.  Evan's struggle for self-acceptance, Brooke's anger, and Paige's confusion- all of it- I felt so deeply.  This is a must read for all fans of teen books and/or ghost stories as well as those of us who continue to harbor conflicted feelings about our adolesence no matter how many years go by.


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Absent will be released MAY 21st!!!