Summer of Fear and Stranger with My Face
Aug 11, 2011
Summer of Fear and Stranger with My Face
Two YA books republished in April 2011
Author: Lois Duncan
Publisher: Little, Brown
Below are two really enjoyable YA books that were written before the craze for vampires and the supernatural was as huge as it today. Ahead of their time these books are. How I wish I had discovered them instead of Flowers in the Attic when I was growing up! These books were written in the late 70’s/early 80’s and have been re-released this April. They’ve been updated to catch up with the modern age, adding cell phones and skinny jeans to the story line, but the body of the book remains the same. Nicely supernatural in theme combined with realistic teen issues, and of course with the usual completely clueless parents.
Summer of Fear
Originally published 1976
ISBN: 978-0-316-09907-5
In Summer of Fear, Rachel suddenly has to welcome a 17 year old cousin into the house after her parents die in a car wreck. She’s never met Julia before, and her parents haven’t seen her since she was a toddler, so at first everything has to be taken as truth from Julia. But Rachel starts to become suspicious when statements and events don’t seem to match up as they should. She certainly doesn’t appear to be grieving over her parent’s sudden deaths. How has Julia suddenly ensnared all of Rachel’s friends, why does her dog absolutely hate Julia, and what’s with the odd Ozarks speech pattern that keeps coming out when Julia went to school in the Northeast most of her life? But the biggest question of all… is Julia a witch… and is she dangerous?
Stranger with My Face
Originally published 1981
ISBN: 978-0-316-09904-2
Stranger with My Face deals with Laurie, a 16 year old who lives in a small Northeast Island town and has the usual struggle with popularity and being part of the right groups. She finally reaches her goal of being part of the cool clique on the island when things start going wrong. Her boyfriend accuses her of seeing someone else – he claims he’s seen them together – and other friends wonder why she never remembers conversations she swears she did not have with them. It’s almost like there’s a twin out there. ……….
When Laurie discovers that she was adopted as a baby and came from a larger family, things start to fall into place. Perhaps she really does have a twin out there… but why is this possible twin showing up all over her turf and pretending to be her? Does she want to take over her life? Would people even be able to tell?
I will say that I found the ending to be especially creepy! A fun read for a teen.
