A. Bates (1)

I thought this would be romantic, she admitted to herself. Keeping an eye on a poor little rich boy, living on a beautiful, remote island, making a ton of money for helping keep a little boy safe... it sounded romantic.

Seventeen-year-old Becky Collier is trying to earn some money to go to college next year so she takes a job as a nanny/mother's helper to a sweet one-year-old boy (Devon) on an isolated island called Sebastian. But she begins to find the situation odd... her employer Mrs. Nelson (Devon's mother) never wants Becky to go out or to be seen. (Mrs. Nelson is hiding Devon away because she thinks someone wants to do him harm and may kidnap him.) Becky is going crazy indoors. Mrs. Nelson goes out a lot to town on business, locks her bedroom door, and doesn't really seem comfortable with her son. Eventually Becky does get out and meets a boy called Cleve who says he has seen Mrs. Nelson sitting at a cafe in town by the dock... she watches to see who comes in on the ferry. But why can Mrs. Nelson go out and be seen but Becky can't? And who is Mrs. Nelson looking for?

This was an entertaining, fast and easy read. I liked Becky. She did her best to keep little Devon safe and handled herself well when she discovered the situation she was in. Becky wondered if she could trust Cleve, who she was starting to like. It was sort of obvious who the villain was, though. I also enjoyed the island setting. And the mystery.

A fun young-adult read from the 90's.… (more)

This was a nifty little book I read as a teen. I reread it as an adult as few years ago, and surprisingly, it stood the test of time. A lot of books I've reread from the teen Point Horror series haven't fared so well (re: R.L. Stine).

The Basics: Kelly (if I recall her name correctly) is taking her senior year final exams. She accidentally finds a journal of the villian/psycho of the novel, but has no idea who owns it. Unable to return it, she hangs onto it for the duration of the story, searching out the owner. The psycho has written some nasty stuff and is unhinged enough to think Kelly will use it against them--and so proceeds to stalk Kelly and play increasingly horrible pranks on her. The psycho is one of the people in her immediate circle. Slowly the novel reveals who it is. Will Kelly succeed in discovering the owner of the journal before they can kill her?

I gave the novel 4/5 stars in relation to other teen novels, as it had a subtle but surprising depth. The novel was written for the bloodthirsty and sometimes fickle Point Horror imprint but you could tell the author actually cared about the story she was telling (unlike other Point Horror authors who seem to be doing it by formula and only for the money). As a teen I found the novel to be average; but as an adult rereading, I discovered levels to the novel I missed as a teen, and was very impressed. The style and setting are spare (basic teen reading level standard), but the characters have a depth I wasn't expecting on the reread. And Kelly's reaction to revelation of the villian/psycho was different but believable.

One of the best of the Point Horror series. Good for easing a Goosebumps type reader into more thoughtful novels.… (more)