YALSA 2015 Popular Paperbacks Finalist for Mysteries: Murder, Mayhem, and Other Adventures Just like any other morning, Skylar Rousseau is late for school, but when she is greeted by a blanket of silent stares upon entering Blackfin High, she discovers that the whole town thought she fell from the pier and drowned on her sixteenth birthday three months earlier. However, Sky remembers the last three months living her life as normal, and since she is a full, living breathing human being, she has no idea whose body is buried underneath her tombstone. Everyone seems reluctant to help except her steadfast friend and crush, Sean . . . and a secretive man who draws her to a mysterious circus in the woods.Sky must wade through impossibilities and lies to discover the truth about what happened to her, which proves to be a bit difficult when someone is following her every move with the intent to harm her. And Sky's only hope of finding the answers she seeks may have already been turned to ashes. Gr 9 Up—Sixteen-year old Skylar Rousseau is late to class, which is no surprise. The real surprise comes when she's told by her shocked friends and family that she's been dead for more than three months. Skylar is adamant that this is all a practical joke and that she remembers the past 97 days just fine—then she begins having dreams of lying with her own dead body in a coffin. Ellis creates a tone that is playful yet eerie, drawing readers into the oddities of the town of Blackfin one bit at a time. It becomes evident that Sky's life has always been peppered with the occult, from the way her home (enigmatically called Blood House) seems to speak to her in code, or how she sees faces in the wooden panels of her wall. As she tries to solve the mystery of her own disappearance, the protagonist starts unraveling a dark past that threatens to change life in Blackfin forever. The town residents are a colorful bunch, and Ellis deftly captures teenage dynamics and mannerisms while maintaining each character's trademark eccentricity. The work ends with an explosive resolution, alongside plenty of questions and tales to be explored. Readers are left satisfied yet hopeful for a continuation of Sky's journey. This page-turner is sure to keep teens who love spooky sleuth novels up well into the night.—Ashleigh Williams, School Library Journal “With convincing logic and a thrilling pace, Ellis spins out a vivid and eloquent tale in which the borders between past and present, experience and memory, and even life and death are porous. Each smart and well-rounded character, even the enigmatic adults, contributes cleverly to Ellis' purposeful plot. Hand this well-wrought mystery to fans of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series and E. Lockhart's rich writing.” — Booklist "Fans of Lisa McMann and Gail Giles will welcome this debut thriller that immediately grabs readers with an intriguing premise." — Kirkus Reviews “The book is so fast paced and engaging that readers will have a hard time putting it down. Fans of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys trilogy will enjoy this great tale.” — VOYA “This page-turner is sure to keep teens who love spooky sleuth novels up well into the night.” — School Library Journal “[T]he dialogue-driven text might particularly appeal to readers of fast-paced, plot-driven thrillers.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Kat Ellis is the author of Blackfin Sky , which was a Junior Library Guild selection and a 2015 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults selection. She currently lives in Denbighshire, North Wales, with her husband and feral cat.