The Scarlet Letterman

THE SCARLET LETTERMAN by Cara Lockwood
Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 1/2/07
Publisher: MTV Books
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
Rating: 5 Stars

THE SCARLET LETTERMAN continues the adventures of Miranda Tate and her friends at Bard Academy. When
WUTHERING HIGH ended, Miranda, Blade, Hana, and Samir had discovered that the faculty of the school for juvenile
delinquents that the four of them attend are not just weirdos who like to torture kids on an island in the middle of nowhere.
They're the ghosts of famous authors who died, mostly by their own hands, before their times.

Miranda and the other students of Bard Academy are being taught by Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Mary Shelley,
and Charlotte Bronte, among others. Of course, this is not something they can go around sharing with people, not even other
students. Miranda and her three friends have to keep it to themselves.

That's why, when weird things start happening, they find themselves involved. The other kids have their theories, but none
are so well-informed as Miranda, Samir, Blade, and Hana. Around the campus, there are weird sightings of "monsters," and
a Hooded Sweatshirt Stalker whose face no one has seen. When one of the teachers disappears, things are definitely getting
serious.

Miranda can't help but think Heathcliff, the fictional character who escaped from the book WUTHERING HEIGHTS, might
be involved. Perhaps, though, that's just wishful thinking…

Not that she should be doing any wishful thinking at all about Heathcliff. She's got a boyfriend. And not just any boyfriend;
she's the envy of half the school (the female half) when she wears hottie Ryan Kent's letter jacket.

It's not enough to just deal with figuring out the Hooded Sweatshirt Stalker, is it? Of course not, not for Miranda. She's also
got to deal with regular school and social issues (though at a school for delinquents, she fears threats from Parker Rodham
may not be so empty as they might have been back at home). On top of everything, she's facing some hostility from faculty
members because of her knowledge of what goes on at Bard. She can't help but feel the key to it all would be to figure out
what's going on, and she'd better do it fast, before someone gets hurt.

This is a great sequel to a great first novel! THE SCARLET LETTERMAN is a ton of fun to read; in fact, I sat down after
getting home and read it in one afternoon! The characters, especially Miranda's friends, are interesting and funny, and the
highly original paranormal element to this story adds an extra dimension to an already fabulously entertaining read. Cara
Lockwood's writing is fantastic, flowing wonderfully and keeping the reader's attention throughout. There's plenty of
suspense in this story, and the ending is open enough to allow for a sequel that readers will be dying to get their hands on
while still tying up a lot of the conflict of the story, which is the kind of ending I like best! The ending of the first book was
the same way. Both books could be stand-alone novels, but readers will better understand book number two if they've read
WUTHERING HIGH. And who wouldn't want to read such a great book? It's certainly worth it; pick up THE SCARLET
LETTERMAN!