First of all, how amazing is that cover? I happened across this as I was shopping for Elizabeth Scott books last week and was completely devastated that it doesn't come out till September! I don't know what to make of this synopsis. At first it sounds like a really interesting look at a girl's struggle with amnesia, but then it gets much darker -- she's not who they say she is? Was she kidnapped? What caused her amnesia? PTSD (a la
)? And THEN it gets kind of dystopian or maybe mental ward-ish? They were under constant scrutiny? And to top it all off, there's a mysterious boy. I'm really getting into this kind of mystery thriller thing, and it seems like something totally different from Elizabeth Scott. I can't wait to find out the answers to my many, many questions!
What's your favorite Elizabeth Scott book? What are you waiting on this week?
Today, I review two books with similar content.
The Missing Girl Norma Fox Mazer
There are five Herbert sisters and their family is having definite economic problems. There is also a man who watches them. He starts off creepy and gets creepier. You know right away that he will kidnap one and it will be bad.
The chapters are short and the characters well-drawn--chapters tend to focus on just one character and then switch for the next chapter, but this one just didn't grab me. I think because it was pretty obvious from chapter 1 what was going to happen. (A guy on a corner obsessively watching young girls? What do you think is going to happen? The big mystery is which sister will he eventually take.) but all this other stuff happens in between. There are almost three different books happening at once and it gets jumbled. By the time one sister goes missing, I was wrapped up in this other plot (one sister getting "loaned out" to save costs) and it just got dropped.
Yes, life is what happens when other things were going on but... there were so many "main" characters and so much going on, that I never really connected to any of the characters or the "main" story.
Living Dead Girl Elizabeth Scott
Alice wasn't always her name. When she was ten, she wandered off from a school field trip and Ray took her. She is now sixteen and too old, too tall, and no longer a small child. Ray wants her to find her replacement before he kills her.
Scott's take on the same subject is drastically more chilling, told in Alice's voice, focusing solely on her story. In addition to the horrific sexual abuse it's the psychological abuse that leaves the reader the most shaken. I picked this up and just started reading, really just planning on glancing through it, and didn't put it down until I was done.
When this first came out and was getting more coverage, many people were hesitant about giving it to readers, due to the horror and "graphicness" of it. I have to say I disagree. Yes, there are parts of this book that disgusted me. But the language isn't graphic. You need a certain worldly knowledge in order to know what, exactly, Scott is talking about. It's also the type of thing that horrifies adults, parents especially, much more than it will horrify teen readers. I'd say that this book is for high school readers, but I would have loved this when I was in junior high. There is a part of me that wants to give it to people who are probably not ready for it and scream "See! This is what happens when you wander off! This is what happens when you talk to strangers! Be safe!!!!" But, don't worry, I won't.
As faithful readers have probably concluded by now, I love Elizabeth Scott. I do. Her books are wonderful. Though she's only been on the scene a relatively short time (this is her second year), I consider her a real must-read.
You’ve had quite a busy year what with the release of three books—Perfect You, Stealing Heaven, and Living Dead Girl. (Both Living Dead Girl and Perfect You were nominated for a Cybils in the YA category.) What has life been like at your house?
Well, the Cybils nominations were an unexpected--and lovely--surprise! But otherwise, life is pretty much exactly the same as it always is, although the revision/copy edits/page proof stage for three books in a year made for some *very* busy times.
Do you get caught up in following your books? Watching to see how people—readers of all ages—respond?
No, because that way lies madness. Besides, I'd rather be writing.
Whose opinions matter most to you as a writer? Teens or the adult critics?
Teens. Praise from adults is lovely, of course, but at the end of the day, I write for teens, and they are the ones I most like to hear from.
What inspired you to write Living Dead Girl? (Or how did this novel come to be?)
Usually, when I get an idea for a story, it comes in bits and pieces. But once in a while--a great while, frankly--an idea will come to me fully formed, a story demanding to be told.
Living Dead Girl was one of those stories.
I woke up the night of April 5, 2007, from a disturbing dream. I write all my dreams down, and usually they're pretty nonsensical, but this one was different.
I wrote:
"Alice." It is her name but it isn't her name. She thinks of who she was as someone far away. Long ago. Kidnapped when she was ten. Five years, and she lives with kidnapper still. Now he wants someone else. New. She'll do anything to get him off her. Knows no one sees her, staring at blue thing, plastic like water but not water, reflection strange. Blurred, featureless. Flash of teeth, grinning not grinning, hands and pain, HIM. Thinks, I am a living dead girl.
By the time I was done writing, I knew Alice's story. I knew I had to tell it. But I had other projects I was working on, and I told myself to file it away.
The night of April 6, 2007, I had the same dream again.
By the night of April 8, 2007, I woke up from the now-familiar dream and wrote only one word:
Alice.
In short--I wrote Living Dead Girl because it demanded to be told, and I hope it speaks to readers as strongly as it did to me.
Living Dead Girl is so unlike your other novels—Bloom, Perfect You, Stealing Heaven—was it a different experience to write it? Did you ever feel trapped like Alice by the experience? In other words, were you able to get inside the mind of your character, wrap your heart and mind around the situation without letting it get you down? Without the characters haunting you?
I actually cut my writing teeth writing short stories, most of which were very dark, so writing Living Dead Girl didn't--and doesn't--feel like a departure. It was an intense experience, though, because the story came out very quickly and I didn't feel like I could stop until I was done.
As far as the situation/characters haunting me--well, let's be honest here. It's not as if things like this don't happen. That's what makes it so horrifying.
To me, however, the heart of Living Dead Girl is all about the moments where we see something--someone--that gives us pause, those moments where we know something is wrong...and turn away. That was, and is, the hardest thing to think about. To write about. Alice could have been saved, but no one ever saw her. Or rather, no one ever let themselves see her.
Living Dead Girl has gotten some great—and some not-so-great reviews. In particular, there are some readers who feel that the subject matter isn’t suitable for teens—even older teens. In other words, that if teens read this it will scare the pants off them. What is your response to that?
I think everyone is entitled to their opinion about Living Dead Girl. I also think that teens are much more aware of what goes on in the world than adults realize, and that assuming a teen reader can't handle something is--well, just that. An assumption.
In the response I've gotten from teens, I've found they read are actually way more likely to see what I was thinking about a lot when I wrote the book--the way society blames victims, the way we choose not to see others' pain--and that adults are more likely to focus on the kidnapping. And, you know, it's easy to get outraged over that. Kidnapping *is* awful. Abuse *is* awful.
But victim blaming and turning away from those moments that give you pause--well, I think Alice says it best:
They will ask why they didn't say anything.
Why didn't you tell someone?
Why didn't you ask for help?
Why didn't you leave him?
Why didn't you respect yourself enough to get away?
...
All our fault, always.
Three Life Lessons
1. No one will see you. 2. No one will say anything. 3. No one will save you.
Do you think teens should have the opportunity to be exposed to the ugly brutality of the “real world”? Do you think that teens are able to self-censor the books they read?
I think teens already know exactly what the "real world" is like, and of course they're able to decide what they can and can't read.
At least, that's what I think. Whether or not others believe this is, of course, another story.
Why did you choose to have the predator, the pedophile, be a stranger instead of someone the victim knows?
I didn't choose it--Ray is who he is. From that very first dream, he was there, and he was what he was. And I knew people would see him and Alice and that no one--not one single person--would ever question him about his life or his clearly starving--and clearly abused-- "daughter."
What was your first impression of the cover for Living Dead Girl?
That it was perfect---the dress, the leaves, the leg looming in the shot from the corner--it says so much of what the story is about.
Stealing Heaven and Perfect You are much lighter books. And they’re both great YA romances. Now that you’ve done both—both light and dark—which do you prefer? Or is that a fair question? Is one easier to write than the other? What do you have planned next for us?
You know, I don't really have a preference. I like writing all kinds of things. Human nature is both light and dark, and I think I'll always be drawn to writing about that.
As far as what I've got next--in March, Simon Pulse will release Something, Maybe (which is excerpted at the end of Perfect You--though in some editions the title is Live! Nude! Mom. which was changed at the request of one of the bookstore chains)
Something, Maybe is a flat-out romance, and I had a lot of fun writing it!
And then, in June, Harper will release Love You Hate You Miss You, a story about what happens after life as you know it ends, about how you try to find your way past grief and deal with your loss and your role in it. (And okay, it also has a romance too.)
What does Kate’s playlist sound like? Does she have a theme song? What would Dani’s playlist sound like? Does she have a theme song?
This is going to sound so strange, but what the heck, I'm going to tell you the truth--when I think about my characters, I never think about them in terms of music. Instead, it's smells.
( Remember, I said it was strange!)
But anyway, it's definitely smells for me. When I think of Lauren, from Bloom, I think of the way clarinet reeds smell, and the scent of libraries. When I think of Kate, from Perfect You, I think of that weird smell all malls have. (And they all have them! how do they do that?) When I think of Dani, from Stealing Heaven, I think of the smell of silver, and the beach. And for Alice, from Living Dead Girl, it's yogurt that's just expired--that first sniff where you think, oh, it's okay, but underneath, you can tell it isn't.
What inspired you to write Perfect You?
I decided to write Perfect You after getting an idea for a story about a family who had to deal with an extremely demanding relative moving in. The original idea was very (*very*) different from how the story ended up, but that's one of the fun things about writing --- there are always surprises along the way!
Perfect You has one of the best first lines ever…in my humble opinion…”Vitamins had ruined my life.” Was this line easy for you? Or did you struggle to get it just right? To get readers hooked right from the start?
Oh, thank you! And actually, that line was always there--I knew, from the second I got the idea, that vitamins were going to be in the story, and that first line would be the first line.
Was Kate’s Grandma inspired by anyone? Just curious...
No, she wasn't, but I sure did have a lot of fun writing about her!
What was your first impression of the cover for Perfect You?
SHOES! I had so much fun writing the scene at the party, where Kate throws one of her shoes at Will, and when the cover came, I thought it was perfect. Every time I see it, I think of that scene and smile.
What inspired you to write Stealing Heaven?
I wanted to write a book about a mother/daughter thief team, and I wanted the daughter to *not* want to be a thief. The only problem was, what could they steal? I didn't want them robbing banks or anything like that, and after reading an article about someone who'd tried to steal antique silver, I thought "huh." It was just such an unusual thing to steal, and the more I thought about it, the more it felt like it was the right thing for my two thieves to chase after. And as for Greg...well, he was always going to be part of the story!
Did you have any reservations about it, consider for even one second that you just might be glamorizing burglary and theft?
Not at all. I don't think Stealing Heaven glamorizes theft--I mean, Dani clearly isn't enjoying her life, so I don't see how it makes thievery look fun.
(I’m not one of those that think teens will copycat what they see in books…I’m just wondering if you’ve heard any criticism from other folks about the life-choices of this fictional family.)
I haven't heard from anyone about this, actually. There have been a few emails from people who think Dani's mother is a pretty rotten mom--which is true, but I would add that Dani's mom is the best mom she can be.
Which leads me to my next question…Do you think adults take fiction books too seriously at times?.
I think that's a really loaded question, but I will say this:
While I think it is absolutely a parent or guardian's right to discuss what their child is reading/wants to read and, if they choose, ask their child not to read certain books, I don't think anyone has the right to decide what those outside their immediate family should or shouldn't read. I don't think anybody should have that power. For example, I don't like Charles Dickens, but I also don't think I have the right to demand that no one ever read him again.
I admit this was a loaded question! But in my defense, I was writing the questions late at night and my head wasn't quite as together as I thought it was. :)
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Terrifying. Devastating. Tragic.
Those are the three words that come to mind when I think of Elizabeth Scott's Living Dead Girl. After finishing it in one sitting late last night, I'm still trying to catch my breath and desperately trying to get rid of the weight that seems to have settled on my chest. But I think it will be a long time before this happens because what has happened to "Alice" in the book can happen to a child in real life...probably has happened.
The book is told from the point of view of "Alice" a fifteen-year old girl who was kidnapped on an elementary school field trip when she was 10. Her captor, Ray, has sexually and physically abused her every day since he kidnapped her. He starves her because he doesn't want her to physically mature, he terrorizes her and tells her that he'll kill her parents and burn their house down if she tries to escape. I'm putting "Alice" in parentheses because that is not her real name. It's the name Ray gave her, the same name he gave the girl he kidnapped and killed before he kidnapped the second Alice.
Alice calls herself a "living dead girl." She's numb inside, she's hungry, she's been tortured so much that she wishes for death. She's waiting for it, hoping for it, expecting it any day; but Ray has something different in mind that is even more terrifying to the reader, and he needs Alice's help.
I've always heard stories about people getting kidnapped and having many opportunities to escape, but they don't. This is Alice's case. There are multiple opportunities for her to tell someone, to run away, to ask for help, but Ray has instilled so much fear in her that she doesn't even think about it anymore.
She truly believes that he will kill her parents, and at one point she says, "I could run, but he would find me. He would take me back to 623 Daisy Lane and make everyone who lives there pay. He would make everyone there pay even if he didn't find me. I belong to him. I'm his little girl. All I have to do is be good" (p. 34).
What is most profound is that Ray has brainwashed her to the point of her believing that she's bad, she's selfish, and that it's all her fault. On the day of the kidnapping, she wouldn't share her lip gloss with her friends. They walked away from her, leaving her alone and exposed to a monster, but she blames herself, thinks if she wouldn't have been so selfish, her life would be different. It's truly heartbreaking.
But the worst part is that people look the other way. They know something's not right, but don't step in.
Scott's writing is gripping, captivating, and horrifying. She draws you in from the very beginning, and Alice immediately becomes real, someone you ache for, someone who you want to make it, someone you want to pluck out of this nightmare of a life. If you're wondering about the language and descriptions in the book, it is evident that Ray is sexually abusing Alice. It's evident that sexual acts are being performed, but the language itself is not graphic.
When discussing why she wrote Living Dead Girl, Elizabeth Scott says, " I wrote Living Dead Girl because it demanded to be told, and I hope it speaks to you as strongly as it did to me." (read more at Simon & Schuster's website).
Did I like the story? Honestly, no. I don't like stories about children being sexually abused. Was it well-written? Absolutely. Should every parent read it? Absolutely. Should teens read it? I want to say yes. I want to say that it could potentially save lives, but it's scary. All I want to do is scoop my daughter up and never let her go.
What Other Bloggers are Saying:
(There are book reviews all over the blogosphere. Here are some of the most recent.)
Bookshelves of Doom: "I'd maybe recommend it to older teens who aren't prone to nightmares. Because this book is way more scary than any horror novel I've ever read." (read more...)
Book Envy: "This is a powerful, horrifying, extremely well written book. It is not for the faint of heart." (read more...)
Presenting Lenore: "This is a heavy, heartbreaking novel, but one that reinforces my belief that the human spirit finds ways to triumph even in the face of great evil. Short and spare, yet powerful and moving, Alice’s story lingers long after the last page is turned." (read more...)
Jenn's Bookshelf: "It has been quite some time since a book has impacted me so powerfully." (read more...) Jenn is also giving away an ARC of the novel if you leave a comment by 10/4.
The Book Muncher: "While it’s not right to like a story such as this, I think Living Dead Girl should be read by everyone, if not for enjoyment then to inform readers. It is a short but fast read, beautifully written and impossible to ever forget." (read more...)
Teen Book Review: "It’s thought provoking, and, well, as I said before, disturbing. Elizabeth Scott is an amazing writer, and she makes this story into exactly what it is supposed to be." (read more...)
Becky's Book Reviews: "Scott's writing is incredible. If I were in charge of handing out awards, one would be heading her way. " (read more...)
If I missed you, leave your link in the comments, and I'll post it.
More info:
- Reading level: Young Adult
- Hardcover: 176 pages
- Publisher: Simon Pulse (September 2, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1416960597
- ISBN-13: 978-1416960591
- Source: Library
I feel like I've made a new friend. I read two Elizabeth Scott books in a row last weekend and just wanted to keep reading more. She has a brand new one out,Stealing Heaven that I'm hoping to get my hands on soon. It's too new for me to ILL it, but maybe one of the libraries I'll frequent will get it soon, or I'll wait about another month and should be able to get it...
But, here's what I did read:
Bloom Elizabeth Scott
Lauren's everything you're supposed to want to be. She has the perfect boyfriend--cute, popular, and super sweet. She has a great best friend, and she's almost one of the popular crowd...
But... (and there's always a but). There's nothing for her at home but an empty house. She doesn't really have anything in common with her best friend and while her boyfriend is generally seen as perfect, he's kinda boring and not really the guy for her. The only thing she's really excited about is jazz band, but that's dorky so she hides it. She doesn't tell her boyfriend, best friend, or father when she's given a major solo in the concert. She doesn't even tell them she has a concert.
But how can she break out of what everyone expects she is in order to be who she actually is? It might take Evan, the son of her father's ex-girlfriend moving back to town to show her what she has inside her.
I love how there is no perfect characters in this book. Everyone has their issues of varying levels and all are believable. There's a fair amount of teen angst, but it was like listening to my own inner monologue during my high school years. It's not over the top, but rather perfectly bitter sweet. I was back in high school all over again, standing at my locker, looking at people who could easily have been Scott's characters.
The next book I read was:
Perfect You Elizabeth Scott
Kate's life is pretty much over. Her best friend lost a ton of weight over the summer and is now super popular and is completely ignoring her. Kate's dad quit a good job to sell infomercial vitamins at the mall, forcing Kate to work with her. Finances are so bad, her grandmother (whom nobody likes) moves in to help out. And then, to top it all off, Will, hook-up king and all around jerk won't leave her alone.
But Anna wants to be Kate's friend in private. Will might be a jerk but why is he such a good kisser? It just throws Kate for a further loop. Kate's life is not-so-slowing spiraling into severe crapitude, and there's not one thing she can do about it.
I loved Kate's voice, especially in talking back to Will. I love how she always just dished it out. At times she seemed unsympathetic to her parents and completely bratty about her family's situation but... she's 16. It was a completely believable action. She wasn't always likable, but she was always real.
Lucky for us, Scott has another book coming out this fall, and then another one next spring. I can't wait.
Full disclosure:
Perfect You was provided by the author.
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There will be a LIVE! chat with Deb on 
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Wow! This is the first I've heard of this and it sounds absolutely intriguing (and it has a beautiful cover to boot!)! Thanks for putting this one on my radar!
My WOW
Great pick! This one sounds really good and I like the cover :)
I've passed this title quite a few times on blogs, it's got me interested. Great pick!
Here's my W.O.W : http://mochalattereads.blogspot.com/2011/07/waiting-on-wednesday13.html
-Mocha from A Cupcake and A Latte: YA Reads, Reviews & More!.
I love Elizabeth Scott's writing so I'm really excited for this book as well. Great pick! :)
Check out my Waiting on Wednesday picks!
I love Elizabeth Scott and I'm totally impatient for this book, as well. And I can't seem to resist covers with orange on them, either. Awesome pick!
I've never read anything by Elizabeth Scott, but this sounds awesome. I'm definitely giving it a try when it comes out. Great pick!
My WoW!
<3 the cover too!
I think it'll end up being something to do with the CIA or something!
My WoW
I sounds very mysterious and I am intrigued! Great pick!
Check out my WOW for this week!
This sounds great! I have it in my wishlist too! I hope we get this from Galley Grab soon!
Here's my Waiting on Wednesday post.
I think this sounds fantastic and it is something a little different from Elizabeth Scott's usual type of book. Great pick!
Am very excited about this one too. Cover lust got me first, but the summary spiked my reader's reflex even more. Great pick!
I haven't read this author, but this synopsis is tempting me...and that cover is awesome!
Here's MY WOW POST
Stealing Heaven is my fav of hers! I can't wait for this one either!
It so interesting that there's a whole bunch of books that revolve around amnesia coming out. Looks good though!
Please check out my post!
I haven't read anything by Elizabeth Scott. I'm going to the library tonight so maybe it's time to rectify that!
every book I have seen this Wednesday have been so beautiful!!
I just want them all!!!
http://ratherbarefoot.blogspot.com/2011/07/waiting-on-wednesday-4.html
Great cover and book.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/07/waiting-on-wednesday.html
Love Elizabeth Scott. Can't wait for this one. My fav so far is Perfect You which I have read four times already.
Sally.
http://theelifylop.blogspot.com/2011/07/waiting-on-wednesday-26.html
I loved the idea of this one, it sounds really good. Definitely one to look out for!
My WoW
Suzanne @ Under the Covers
I TOTALLY want this one, and I am IN LOVE with the cover!!!!
the hair on this cover is seriously crazy! Good choice!
Here’s my WOW!