For whatever reason, I didn't have this book marked as YA in my library and its been circulating madly. I finally took an hour to read it and I can see why its been so popular. There's people making out, talking about boobs in shirts, smoking cigarettes, murder. Not what I first expected when I kept hearing about this book. Now that being said, I think the material is okay for the older grades from 5th to Middle. There's no sex or language too extreme (though there is some name calling and slight bad word use). Overall, its a book about finding yourself as many young adult books are and also standing up for yourself and fighting for what's right too.
I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of a darker Hereville and a more teen obsessed Persepolis. Anya is Russian American and she desperately wants to fit in and date the cute boy in school. After she befriends a ghost, Emily, she finds that that Emily will help her cheat on tests, find out where Sean is and get invited to parties. She wants to help Emily find her "murderer" but soon she finds that what she thought she wanted isn't all its chalked up to be and who she thought she knew Emily was, isn't quite the truth.
Interest level and reading level: YA
Genre: Fantasy, Graphic Novel
Comparable Titles: Persepolis, Page by Paige
Book Connections: Russian-American culture, library research (this would be a great chapter to show students how to use micro-film or how research was done before Google), ghost stories
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