Young Adult Literature without Apology
Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.
Realistic | Romance | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery
Kasischke, Laura (2006). Boy Heaven. NY: Harper Collins. ISBN: 0060813148. 275 pages.
Admittedly, the title and cover of this hardback (the cover features a dreamily fuzzed photograph of three teen girls staring out over a lake, their long hair blowing in a breeze) led me to believe that this would be a cheesy chick-lit read. I was wrong. When seventeen-year-old Kristy, her slutty friend Desiree and Kristy's bunk-mate, Kristi, escape cheerleader camp for the day, their plans involve nothing more than a dip in a local lake and a reprieve from the constant cheering and spirit of camp. As they drive along the back country roads near camp, however, they encounter two teen boys who seem to be following them. The girls decide to have a little fun with the boys (they take off their tops and flash the driver and his companion) and then head back to camp. Afterward, though, things start to get creepy. First, Kristi reports that the boys they flashed are stalking them, drifting through the woods around the secluded campsite and peering in their cabin windows. Then, Desiree claims to have seen the guys, too. The scene really gets wierd when Kristy is informed of the boys' disappearance by a police officer and she, too, begins to wonder if the guys are really out there and, if so, what they want.Yes, this does sound like a cheesy teen-exploitation horror/drama; rendered in Kasischke's Joyce Carol Oates-like prose, however, the story is creepy. From the beginning of the novel, when Kristy is awakened by the cry of a cicada that has lit on her cabin's screen window, to the end, Kasischke ratchets up the suspense. Like Oates, who is known for her girl-centric and uncanny narratives of everyday life and its concommitant horrors, Kasischke takes an urban-legend premise and turns it into a mood piece. My only complaint: the last chapter. I won't explain, just advise you not to read it. It's a real buzz kill.
