But she is stunned when out of the blue, beautiful, powerful Ashley Packard handpicks her as a member of the group, a magic circle in a school full of strangers.Chelsea is charmed and amazed at her sudden insider status, and ignores her mother's warnings about Ashley and the world she rules.But as senior year draws near, Chelsea becomes disillusioned with her role as follower. Can she stop Ashley's manipulations and avert the tragedy looming ahead?

    Soldiers pour into the room. They're shouting and waving rifles. I shield my head with my arms. It was a lie! I think, my mind racing.Girls and boys alike are screaming. The soldiers prod and herd some of us together and push the rest apart as if we're cows or goats. Their leader is a middle—aged man. He's moving slowly, intently, not dashing around like the others." Take the boys only, Win Min," I overhear him telling a tall, gangly soldier. "Make them obey."

    His eleven-year-old cousin, Lily, exhibits malicious behavior that escalates from eavesdropping and taunting to "guerrilla attacks" on David's apartment-strewing trash, destroying computer files, gluing CDs into their cases. Consumed by problems in their marriage dating back to the death of their older daughter Kathy four years before, Lily's parents refuse to recognize her disturbing actions and attitude.Expertly paced, the thriller unfolds tantalizingly slowly, as David learns additional details about Kathy's death and Lily's involvement. As the narrator, he also withholds the full story of his girlfriend's death until the very end, which both adds to the suspense and appropriately reflects his longing for privacy and anonymity. His deep-rooted guilt and loss color his thoughts and cast doubt in the reader's mind about his innocence. Everyday details such as David's adjustment to a new school and his interest in "The X-Files" ground the story in reality. Young adults will eat this one up.

    Liar. Fake? Lou and her mum Anna are best friends. It's always just been the two of them, so Lou doesn't mind that Anna steals things - well not much, anyway. But what if Anna is a liar as well as a thief? What if she's a real fake?

    today.

    Suddenly his mother is intent on climbing the social ladder; his grandmother isn't allowed to cook for the family anymore since they've hired a housekeeper; and his older brother, Ralph, who's always wanted to be a teacher has suddenly decided to go into business.