When Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, she finds herself in the middle of a teenage nightmare: a social scene to rival a Hollywood movie. And if understanding the hierarchy of the Goldens vs. the Nons isn t hard enough, Lissy s ever growing Aura Vision is getting harder and harder to hide, and if she s not careful, she s going to become a Non faster than you can say freak. But it s becoming clear that Emory High has a few secrets of its own. Around the halls, the term special powers goes way beyond one s ability to attract the opposite sex, and there may be something more evil than the A-crowd lurking in the classrooms. Lissy can see a lot more than the average girl, but she s about to learn the hard way that things aren t always as they appear and you can t always judge a girl by her lip gloss. From the Trade Paperback edition. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Fifteen-year-old Felicity Shannon James ("Lissy") is upset with her family's decision to move from her beloved California to a small town in Oklahoma. It seems that the Sight ("an ability to see what others could not") prevents Lissy from having a normal life. All the women in her mother's family have some version of the Sight. Lissy's gift (which she hates) allows her to see auras, the "small moving quantity of colored light" that surrounds a person. On her first day at her new school, things don't go as smoothly as she'd hoped. When Lissy meets wonderful, handsome Mr. Kissler, the math teacher, she becomes physically ill. Mr. Kissler's aura has no color-he's Garn, which means that he has done something horrible, such as committed murder. What has he done? Are the students in danger? A recurring dream and a visitation from the First Seer give Lissy clues that help her unlock Kissler's secret. First-time author Barnes's upbeat yet haunting novel about being the new kid in school will likely grab readers with its clever, original twist. Ages 12-up. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 7 Up-At Oklahoma's Emory High, students belong to one of two social groups: the Goldens-the beautiful, popular, and equally hateful-and the Nons, short for non-Goldens, or generally nonexistent. New-girl-in-town Lissy James struggles not only with this rigid hierarchy, but also with an extrasensory perception that allows her to see various "colors" surrounding other people. As Lissy's "Sight" becomes more acute, she begins to realize that evil lurks in the halls of her school, and, with the help of her sister and two acquaintances, she saves several classmates and family members from certain death. While combining the supernatural and chick-lit/mean-girl genres into one novel makes for an interesting premise, this book is plagued with structural problems. Some of the plot lines are extraneous, and there is so much going on that the story becomes muddled. The actions of several characters are either unconvincingly explained or ignored altogether. Finally, the book is overly long, and the incessant references to auras slow down the action. Teens interested in supernatural fiction are better served by one of Lois Duncan's engaging titles. Those who enjoy reading about popularity struggles should try Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl (Knopf, 2000) or Gail Giles's Shattering Glass (Millbrook, 2002).-Rebecca M. Jones, Fort Myers-Lee County Library, FL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information