Awakening

Lily Dale Awakening Walker Publisher Company 2007 pp.228 $7.99 Wendy Corsi Staub ISBM -10: 0-8027-9655-4 Would you be up set if you didn't know your mom or dad? I know I would Calla didn't know her mom very well because she was in a freak car accident. Her mom was only 20 when she died. Calla's dad disappeared when Calla had her 16th birthday. Calla went ro her grandma's house in Lily Dale. Calla wanted to know more about her mom and dad. Calla's grandma is very sick every day Calla has to drive down to Lily Dale to take care of her grandma. Calla's grandma is the only thing close to Calla. Calla feels confused and lost with out her mom and dad. She is an easy going person. She has friends that live by her. She has on friend named Sally. Sally is popular because her sister Emiyl wants her to be popular and Sally won't hang out with Calla that much at school. Calla has another friend named Sara. Sara is Calla closest friend. They have known each other since they could rember. Sara is a bright loving girl who listens to Calla's secrets and her feelings. Sara is the friend you could hang out with. Calla is worried about moving to a different state because she is tired of not having her mom and dad watching over her. Calla is thinking about moving in with Sara.

My ten-year old loved this and Believing - can't wait for the next book in the series!

Being a medium and psychic myself, I found that the Wendy Corsi Staub presented a believable and accurate story with sensitivity about a subject often misunderstood and/or presented as "hokey poky" or otherwise. Her examples of how one might see a spirit is accurate as is how psychic information is received. I enjoyed how the main character, a teen named Calla, slowly awakens and accepts to her psychic abilities. As well as how Odelia, her gifted seer - grandmother, doesn't push her in any way to do so. I think that the younger reader would appreciate how Calla had that freedom of choice from an adult. The acceptance of this young character of her grandmother's "unusual" psychic was handled by the writer in such a way to allow the reader to explore if a psychic reader could indeed be a "normal" person. Not that Calla's grandmother's character is--she is rather eccentric. But, the reader is introduce to others of Odelia's ilk who live in this small town in New York. The town Lily Dale does exist and is home to psychics, mediums and healers. Also, I found Calla's peers at Lily Dale believable characters. They weren't too "out there" or "clickish" but rather presented so teen reader could find interest while remaining aware of differences as developed psychic children. Quite honestly, I thought the writing a bit choppy and not detailed enough of the relationship between Calla and her mother and found the ending unsatisfactory to my curiosity. I would recommend this book to my young clients and their parents to have a clearer picture of the psychic.

Calla Delaney was sure that when her boyfriend, Kevin, who also happens to be her best friend's brother, dumped her three months ago, it was the worst thing that could ever happen to her. She had never been so wrong. Standing at the edge of her mother's grave proves that. Her mother, who was way too young to die, especially in some crazy freak accident, before Calla even had time to talk to her about everything that you're supposed to get to talk to your mom about. Before she has much time to process everything, Calla's dad sends her off to spend the summer with her weird grandmother, who she barely knows. It was that or live in an already overcrowded house with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Or live with Lisa's family and risk running into Kevin on a regular basis. No thank you. Crazy Grandma it is. Grandma Odelia lives in a very small town in western New York, in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Lily Dale gets no cell phone reception, and Odelia doesn't own a computer. Calla has no idea how she's supposed to get through all of this. Especially once she finds out what really goes on in Lily Dale, and why her Grandma always seemed so weird. When it starts to seem like Calla herself may have a place in this town, as well as in a family mystery, well... There's only one thing she's sure of -- nothing will ever be the same again. If you like anything about the supernatural, ghosts, psychics, whatever, you will love this book! It's very well-written, and very absorbing! Calla is a perfect disbeliever, even with "reality" staring her in the face, and Odelia is just plain fun! This story has mystery, danger, romance, and so much more. You won't be sorry you read this one. It may even prompt a cool vacation, since Lily Dale is apparently a real place! I just hope I'm not wrong in assuming that there are many more books about Calla and Lily Dale on their way. Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

Being an avid fan of Wendy Corsi Staub's adult suspense novels, I couldn't resist the opportunity to read this book, her return to YA fiction, three days before its official release. (Thank you, Borders!) Fans of IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE will recognize the setting-Lily Dale, an actual community of psychic mediums located in New York. With this intriguing locale as a backdrop, WCS spins a story full of suspense, romance, and quirky characters that practically walk off the page. Case in point is the protagonist's (Calla) grandmother, the eccentric Odelia, who sings along to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, sleeps until noon, and happily admits to reading on the pot. Oh, and did I mention that she's a registered medium? Surprise! Calla has come to Lily Dale after the tragic death of her mother, and finds herself drawn to the unanswered questions of the past, including the falling out between her mother and grandmother that tore their family apart. (Just what is the significance of the argument about dredging the lake that Calla remembers overhearing as a child?) As if Calla's life hasn't taken enough unexpected turns, she finds herself seeing ghosts-or spirit guides, as Odelia prefers to call them-hearing voices, and having visions that just may unlock the secrets of the past. And it doesn't take long for Calla to realize that she may have a lot more in common with the Lily Dale community-and with the women of her own family-than she ever could have expected. As the first book in this exceptional series comes to a close, it finds Calla beginning to embrace her "gift" and choosing to stay on in Lily Dale longer than expected. Book Two, the upcoming BELIEVING, promises to find Calla confronting the burden of such powers, and it could just cost her her life, as her unwitting discovery at the conclusion of AWAKENING has marked her as a potential target. The trademark elements of suspense that set this author's adult work far above that of her contemporaries are more than evident here, and long after closing the book, the reader can't help but ponder what's going to happen next. LILY DALE: AWAKENING made me ask myself, Harry Potter who?