Told through a retrospective collection of found evidence surrounding the deaths of several students in a boarding school fire, Kurtagich's debut novel is deeply disturbing and fraught with emotion. Carly and Kaitlyn Johnson are two separate personalities sharing the same body and have done so for as long as either can remember. After the death of their parents, Carly and Kaitlyn's time is split between treatment in a psychiatric hospital and studying at a British boarding school; it's at school where their comfortable dissociative routine begins to unravel under mysterious and arcane circumstances. Their slowly expanding group of friends houses a traitor, and Kaitlyn is left to search for Carly after her alter ego's persona disappears. Psychological self-indulgence wars with fascinating introspection as diary entries and transcripts of video footage and therapy sessions chronicle a teenager's descent into and out of madness. Contrived tension and a haphazard time line ring a few discordant notes, but are balanced by insightful characterization and a detailed exploration of the importance of the emergent identity to the teenage self. Ages 15–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency.(Sept.)

Gr 8 Up—This creepy boarding school novel meshes real world issues with a paranormal mystery in a fun but scary debut. Carly Johnson might have dissociative identity disorder, where the trauma of her parents' fatal car accident resulted in the creation of a nocturnal alter personality named Kaitlyn. Or there might be something supernatural at work, since Kaitlyn claims she and Carly have shared the same body and life since birth and may have been responsible for their parents' deaths. A stint in a mental institution doesn't help, and soon Kaitlyn realizes that the Carly personality seems to have disappeared. Told as an official report investigating the mystery of a fatal fire, this novel includes diary entries, notes, interviews, and transcripts from a video camera. One friend uses a fictional kind of Scottish witchcraft to unravel the mystery of the girls' identity, there's a complicated romance, and the diary itself, named Dee, becomes a menacing, ghostly apparition. Is this a creative exploration of mental illness, or a straightforward horror story? The multiple unanswered questions feel intriguing rather than frustrating. Fans of horror novels will appreciate the creepy photographs scattered throughout, and the multiple perspectives are smoothly integrated. VERDICT A worthy addition to high school horror collections.—Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City

Gr 8 Up—This creepy boarding school novel meshes real world issues with a paranormal mystery in a fun but scary debut. Carly Johnson might have dissociative identity disorder, where the trauma of her parents' fatal car accident resulted in the creation of a nocturnal alter personality named Kaitlyn. Or there might be something supernatural at work, since Kaitlyn claims she and Carly have shared the same body and life since birth and may have been responsible for their parents' deaths. A stint in a mental institution doesn't help, and soon Kaitlyn realizes that the Carly personality seems to have disappeared. Told as an official report investigating the mystery of a fatal fire, this novel includes diary entries, notes, interviews, and transcripts from a video camera. One friend uses a fictional kind of Scottish witchcraft to unravel the mystery of the girls' identity, there's a complicated romance, and the diary itself, named Dee, becomes a menacing, ghostly apparition. Is this a creative exploration of mental illness, or a straightforward horror story? The multiple unanswered questions feel intriguing rather than frustrating. Fans of horror novels will appreciate the creepy photographs scattered throughout, and the multiple perspectives are smoothly integrated. VERDICT A worthy addition to high school horror collections.—Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City