Mary, will I die?

Gr 7 Up--It was only a game. At least that's what nine-year-old Elena believed when she invited classmates Grace, Steph, and Calvin to her late grandmother's room and challenged them to say the name Bloody Mary 13 times into the mysterious, ornate mirror. The two potential outcomes: either your soul mate's face will appear in the mirror or the horrible face of Bloody Mary, promising an imminent death. Three of them saw a person's face. The other was marked for death. Five years later, the teenagers have all gone their separate ways, when near tragedies start surrounding them, tragedies that Calvin is able to sketch before they occur. Elena is haunted by a figure in the mirror, and the four classmates are forced to come back together and face the truth when a new girl named Mary shows up at school. Sarles presents a simplistic tale that will please fans of horror and the supernatural. The story offers some nostalgia, taking the classic urban legend game played at countless grade school sleepovers and bringing it to life in a menacing and insidious way. The protagonists are well-developed and genuine characters who are easy to care about, in particular the timid and monster-movie-obsessed Grace who innocently wants this talk of soul mates to be true. After a slow, ominous buildup and a handful of surprising twists, this novel will have readers believing that not all scary stories are make-believe. VERDICT Fans of classic monster movies and chilling Grimm's fairy tales will be interested in checking this one out.--Amanda Harding, Elmwood Elementary School, Wauconda, IL

Teens endure fallout from a game of Bloody Mary. Everybody's done it at some point: You look in the mirror and repeat the name Bloody Mary. Sometimes, the legend says, you'll see your true love. Sometimes they say you'll see the ghost's face, and it means you will die young. But these four fourth grade friends--Grace, Calvin, Elena, and Steph--didn't count on their little game's still affecting them five years later. They were just having some spooky fun in Elena's deceased grandmother's room, after all. But now, even after all these years have passed, each of them still sees a shape behind them whenever they look in a mirror. But the frights really begin when a new girl arrives at school. Her name is Mary. The author effectively and slowly ratchets the tension and dread, crafting some cleverly frightening sequences that fans of the genre will love. Less effective is the characterization: As each chapter pivots perspectives, some readers may have to double back and sort out which of the troubled teens they're following. As the scares pile up and the descent into madness moves forward, the characterization gets a bit crisper, but the first few chapters may pose a bit of a hurdle. The novel's conclusion is satisfactory, but the real highlights here are the spooky sequences. The teens are all presumed White. A deliciously disturbing, twisted tale. (Horror. 12-15) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.