YA New York

It was probably very smart that Suzanne Harper’s publicist sent me two of this fantabulous author’s books. Because without the first, I’d never have gotten to the second.

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney was published last year, but it’s out in paperback now, which means it’s cheaper and so you have no reason not to buy it. Because it’s a lovely novel about a girl who lives in Lily Dale, New York (a real place), where Spiritualists run the game. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Spiritualism, it is a religion centered around the belief that one can speak with the dead. And, boy, can Sparrow speak with the dead. Indeed, dead folks follow her around. And though she usually ignores them, not to mention pretends she has no special powers, one finally convinces her to help him cross over. (You know, to the other side.)

Anyway. Fans of Suzanne’s have been clamoring for a sequel to this novel, and so am I. Suzanne? Are you reading? Please to write a sequel, yes?

Next up was The Juliet Club. This is another novel I picked up and put down, because I read in the first few pages that our heroine, Kate, is a sensible girl who doesn’t believe in love. I have no use for such people.

But then Kate flies off to Verona, Italy for a month to participate in a study-abroad program focusing on Romeo and Juliet. And our sensible heroine turns from a Kate a la The Taming of the Shrew into a star-crossed lover. Actually, it seems everyone in this novel is a star-crossed lover of some sort.

Harper’s writing in both books is delightful, and it took no more than five minutes for me to overcome my antagonism toward Kate in The Juliet Club. In fact, I could do with a sequel to that one, too.

To sum up: I can’t get enough of Suzanne Harper. And I can’t get enough of her books. I want more, and I want it now. I bet you will, too.

Buy The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney and The Juliet Club from Amazon.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.