Scarlett lives on Catalina Island leading a fairly isolated life. Things are going great and life is good when one day her brother Ronny dies from a brain aneurism while playing soccer for UCLA. Neither Scarlett nor her parents seem to be able to deal with his death and they all retreat into their own worlds excluding each other. Scarlett feels best when riding her horse Delilah through the hills of the island. Riding fast and forgetting everything else. One day while riding she has a mysterious encounter with Will a new boy who just moved to the island and will be going to her school. As Scarlett tries to cope with Ronny’s death she finds herself becoming anorexic and cutting herself. This on top of her relationships with her boyfriend Andy and the relationship that seems to be forming between her and Will leave her very emotional and not sure if she will survive it all. Her parents are not much help – her mother has withdrawn to her room and relies on sleeping pills to get by and her father is a distant shell, trying to be a dad but just not quite able to do it. There are many angles in this story – death, depression, date rape, drinking, love, religion and some paranormal leaving you to wonder exactly what the main storyline and angle will be but overall I felt like it all worked out and will be a big hit with girls who like stories about troubled teens.
ISBN: 9780375990427 Pages 356. Ages 14 and up.
Recommended by: Joleen Waltman, Librarian, Idaho USA
