16-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she's a criminal. No, she's a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams. Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother's infamy is hard enough, not to mention the crazy events of the past year. Dusty may have saved the day, but there are many days left in the year, and with an old foe back to seek revenge, she'll need all her strength to defeat him and save her friends. Mindee Arnett thrills again in The Nightmare Charade , the stunning final installment in the Arkwell Academy series. Gr 7–10—In the final installment, 16-year-old half-Nightmare Dusty Everhart and her dream partner Eli Booker have realized that they have romantic feelings for each other, but the Academy's administrators have decided that they are a dangerous combination and must be kept apart. At the same time, the Magi Senate and the Department of Intelligence for Magickind Secrecy (DIMS) conscript them to help obtain a magical object called the Death's Heart. Both are magically bound to secrecy: if they attempt to speak of their mission to outsiders, they will be speechless for several minutes. The mission is dangerous and life-threatening, but DIMS's decision to choose to two teens to carry it out doesn't seem to bother the authorities at all. Once readers have accepted this, the remainder of the tale is quite believable. References to past events and characters are explained and integrated seamlessly, and even newbies will be drawn into the exciting, twist-laden plot. VERDICT Though it's not necessary to have read the earlier volumes, this book will be requested by series fans and will intrigue new readers enough to check out the others.—Marlyn Beebe, Long Beach Public Library, Los Alamitos, CA “Brimming with wit and charm... Mindee Arnett has created a brand-new school of magic to delight and enthrall us.” ― Marissa Meyer, New York Times bestselling author of Cinder “Mindee Arnett has a knack for magic. The world of Nightmares, Sirens, Wizards and Demons at Arkwell Academy is wondrous and strange, yet so human and well-drawn that you get the feeling you might stumble into it by accident if you go out wandering too late...” ― Kendare Blake, author of Anna Dressed in Blood “Arnett offers quick pacing and plenty of plot twists.” ― School Library Journal “The scrappy first-person narration and integration of frightening dreamscapes make Arnett's debut a fun paranormal mystery, with a focus on atmosphere over romance.” ― Publishers Weekly MINDEE ARNETT lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats. She's addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic and the macabre. Her short stories have appeared in various magazines. Arnett has a master of arts in English literature with an emphasis in creative writing. The author of several books including The Nightmare Affair , The Nightmare Dilemma , and The Nightmare Charade. She blogs and tweets, and is hard at work on the next novel in the Arkwell Academy series. The Nightmare Charade By Mindee Arnett Tom Doherty Associates Copyright © 2015 Mindee Arnett All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-7653-3335-3 Contents Title Page, Copyright Notice, Dedication, Acknowledgments, 1. Last Kiss, 2. Animus Mortem, 3. Death Becomes You, 4. Nondisclosure, 5. Involuntary Separation, 6. New Leads, 7. Guilt Trap, 8. It Bites, 9. Motives, 10. Stranger with Your Face, 11. Bad Luck, 12. The Other Nightmare, 13. Cell Block B, 14. Doppelgänger, 15. Alibis, 16. Here Be Dragons, 17. Growing Pains, 18. Breakthroughs, 19. Proceed with Caution, 20. Three Visions, 21. Sword Dreams, 22. Holy Places, 23. Tryouts, 24. Hidden Target, 25. Traps, 26. The Shape-Changer, 27. Will of Its Own, 28. The Curse, 29. The Fallen, 30. Death Like Sleep, 31. The After, 32. Dream's End, About the Author, Tor Teen Books by Mindee Arnett, Copyright, CHAPTER 1 Last Kiss I had no idea that the first kiss would be the last. The last free one that was, the only one Eli and I didn't have to steal or keep hidden like some terrible secret. No, I had no idea what was coming as I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and reapplied my cherry lip gloss for the fourth time. "You know, Dusty," Selene said from outside the door where she was hanging posters on the wall of our new dorm room, two floors up from our old one. "Despite what the packaging might claim, I don't think it's actually possible to increase the size of your lips by putting on layers." Suppressing a nervous laugh, I turned and stepped out into the living room portion of the suite. We were juniors this year, and that meant a larger dorm, complete with a private bathroom. Selene and I had plans to burn our old shower shoes in a celebratory ritual this weekend. I fixed her with t