FOG

by Caroline B. Cooney

even the cover is enough to send chills down your back

about the book:

Will Maine’s historic Schooner Inne Bed and Breakfast be a safe haven for the island kids boarding during the school year—or the end of them all?

Christina Romney is thirteen, with a personality that matches her unruly but charming tri-colored hair. She is about to start seventh grade, and for kids from Maine’s Burning Fog Island, that means leaving their little white schoolhouse for regular classrooms and life on the mainland. Everyone assures Christina it will be a fantastic year. Mainland school offers great advantages, after all: extracurricular activities other than boating and fishing, a gym, a cafeteria, and more kids her age. Best of all, this year the boarding students will live at the historic Schooner Inne, a former sea captain’s house (and now a bed and breakfast) recently bought by the school’s charismatic new principal and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Shevvington.

But Christina is apprehensive. She adores the wildness and excitement of her island life. Boarding with her island friends will surely help: Anya, a beautiful senior, fifteen-year-old Benji, the aspiring lobsterman, and his crush-worthy younger brother Michael. But Christina’s apprehension sharpens when Benji and Michael aren’t as friendly as they used to be on the island, and Anya starts acting so strangely it seems she is slowly losing her mind. Christina is increasingly certain the Shevvingtons are behind all of these changes. But no one else can see the Shevvingtons’ eerie behavior—not other teachers, not her parents, not even her fellow island kids. Is Anya the one going crazy in the Schooner Inne—or is it Christina?

MY THOUGHTS

Good vs. Evil

That is the idea behind this incredible story.  Christina is a 13 year old girl from an off coast Maine island (Burning Fog Island) who, along with some other children, must move to the mainland for school. They must all board at the lovely Schooner Inne.  Seems great, but things are not as they appear.  To begin with, The Shevingston's are just a little off.  Strange.  Things go from bad to worse for Christina, and soon she is accused of being an unreliable, unpredictable problem child. (not true).  I loved Christina's spunk, and her unwillingness to follow the pack.  She questions everything and rarely falls prey to the mind games thrusted upon her by the Shevington's Anya, Christina's roommate and fellow islander, is losing herself.  She is slowly becoming a shadow of the person she once was.  The boys appear to be unaffected by the evil that surrounds them.

The book is eerie, spooky and fun all at the same time.  The ending is unfullfilling but leaves the way open for book two...

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves strange and unusual stories.