Trend Alert: Private School Mysteries

People were always asking me if I had any mystery books to recommend, and I did, but they were all in the Teen Fiction section.

Trend Starter:  Pretty Little Liars, Lying Game

I think it's safe to say that most people enjoy a good mystery, but when Pretty Little Liars (up to 18 total books) caught fire popularity-wise, it really paved the way for more school-centric mysteries to be published. If you've ever had a sleepover, or lock-in, at a school, then you already know how creepy it can be in the dark, without having A text-stalk your every move. If you want the adrenaline rush of running through the halls, hot on the trail of something, without the running/danger/damaging rumors, try picking up these books and living vicariously through these heroines and heroes. Bonus points if you figure out the culprit before the official reveal.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
This one is often recommended by author John Green, and I actually like it better than We Were Liars, which everyone is raving about. A total girl-power book, Frankie is excluded from her boyfriend's male-only secret society, but she doesn't let that stop her. Knowing about its existence from her father's stories, she sets off on a path to becoming a criminal mastermind, one prank at a time. Although Disreputable History is more thriller than mystery, it still has all those late night-sneaking around school moments and is like being on the opposite side of a mystery--following the person who knows how everything was done.

Prep School Confidential
Wicked Little Secrets
Deadly Little Sins
The perfect series for the Nancy Drew fan who's grown up to be a badass.  Featuring all of Nancy's favorite things: trespassing, threatening notes, and getting trapped in hard to reach places. Oh, and actual mystery solving. Anne Dowling is on the case(s), starting with her roommate's murder.



The Liar Society
The Lies That Bind,
Third Lie's the Charm
I'm telling you right now: judge these books by their cover, because they're freaking awesome. Kate gets an email from her dead best friend, Grace: "Kate, I'm here…sort of. Find Cameron. He knows. I shouldn't be writing. Don't tell. They'll hurt you." This series has everything: secret societies, weird school rituals, awesome hair colors...

Escape Theory
Hero Complex
Peer counselor, Devon is on-duty when one of the most popular kids, Hutch, appears to commit suicide. Devon goes about providing support for his friends, and trying to clear Hutch's name, as she becomes more sure that he didn't do it.

My Own Worst Frenemy
Chanti bonds with other scholarship students when things start go missing at the school and the scholarship kids look like the most likely suspects. With an undercover cop-mom as her role model, Chanti is on the case. I checked this baby out from the library as a digital copy and then rated it a five on Goodreads with no explanation as to why...  The plot thickens!

High and Dry
Goodreads description: "Framed for a stranger's near-fatal overdose at a party, blackmailed into finding a mysterious flash drive everyone in school seems anxious to suppress, and pressured by his shady best friend to throw an upcoming game, high school soccer player Charlie Dixon spends a frantic week trying to clear his name, win back the girl of his dreams, and escape a past that may be responsible for all his current problems." High and Dry has sort of neo-noir or hardboiled feel to it--everyone's up to something, you can't trust anyone, you've got to run all over the place, interacting with different social groups to get the information you need. I basically loved it. The character relationships are all super interesting...the way the school operates, all the dirt that gets dug up--just great. Different from the other stuff out there, but not difficult to read and absorb.

The Secrets of Lily Graves
The senior class president is found dead after attacking Lily, who kind of stole her boyfriend, in a jealous rage. This is not your average teen mystery, prepare yourself for strangeness, a comment on the "age of surfaces" and, believe it, actual detective work from a girl who has legit mortician skills. Even though I didn't solve it, I certainly enjoyed the ride. If we're being honest, I kind of got so wrapped up in reading that I forgot to even make a guess... 

Buzz Kill
When the unpopular football coach turns up murdered, Millie's father, the assistant coach, is the main suspect. This book is consistently amusing and, at times, downright hilarious. You'll love Millie--the perfect blend of awkward, awesome and not-giving-a-damn. Buzz Kill is teeming with classic Drew: sleuthing with friends, eavesdropping, cliffhanger chapter endings, trespassing and straight-up stealing stuff--check it, Clue Crew. 

Poor Little Dead Girls
New York's hottest club is Poor Little Dead Girls. This club has everything: secret societies, British royalty and that thing where there's a mystery and it's actually resolved... Summary: A scholarship sends Sadie to an elite boarding school where there are mysterious goings-on, such as instant popularity, strange markings on one's body and kidnappings on a semi-regular basis.

No One Else Can Have You
In four words: Wisconsin, satire, WTF, YES. One sentence summary: Kippy, whose idol is Diane Sawyer, uses Ruth's secret diary to try and solve her best friend's murder.

Favorite author plug: Christopher Pike's...
 Last Act: Melanie gets the starring role in a school play AND framed for murder when the gun prop appears to cause real, unscripted damage.
 Master of Murder: Marvin is an 18-year-old senior in high school AND a bestselling author with a pen-name... But, according to some threatening fan-mail, someone knows he's both.
 Die Softly: When Herb plants a camera in the school showers, he ends up photographing cheerleaders AND a murder.

Trend Alert: Buckets and Lists

Trend Starter: The Boyfriend List, All-American Girl

I like lists--who doesn't? There's something so satisfying about doing something and then getting to cross it off. I've found that books with lists make for good reading as well, maybe because the presence of a list gives the entire book structure and something to work towards? The first list-book I remember is All American Girl. Cabot had scattered Top 10 lists throughout the book; they were always funny, interesting or led to important revelations. I fully remember skipping ahead, looking for the next list because they were so funny. Meanwhile, The Boyfriend List is a little more recent example. The entire book revolves around Ruby's list of past boyfriends--one boy for each chapter. It's full of drama--Ruby is a 15-year-old with a shrink who's had a rough ten days. The back of the book is a list of all the crazy stuff that happened.

A lot of new books seem to have picked up on my List = Good Book formula, so I started keeping track of them. Here is my list of (teen) books with lists:

Cancer-Related Bucket Lists:

Side Effects May Vary -- Available Now
Status: Read
When Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, she gets right to work on completing her bucket list. After doing several revenge-related entries among others, Alice goes into remission and has to face the consequences of everything she's done. Excerpt of my review: "Julie's captured something really authentic here, and it might rip you apart a little bit. Basically, Alice doesn't know what she's doing, and I think that's something all of us can relate to. Sometimes she makes bad decisions, and you'll want to grab her by the shoulders and give her a shake. Sometimes she's some sort of criminal mastermind, and you'll want to give her a high-five and compliment her on her originality. But mostly you'll get sucked in, thinking about how love and health can change your priorities, plans and general outlook."

The F-it List -- Available Now
Status: Read
One sentence summary: Alex is asked to complete Becca's bucket list when Becca is diagnosed with cancer. You should be able to tell just from the title that this book's got some mature content, but that's what makes it so great. Sometimes you've got to show the ugly side of things, and let the bad decisions reign. You've got some romance here, but this is very much a book about friendship.

Bucket or To-do Lists:

Dark Days -- June 3rd, 2014
Status: Read, Wishlist
This is a book with a list AND a time limit. Our main character, Sia, only has 15 days left to live. And, not because she's sick or there's an apocalypse coming, but because the world is calling a redo and she hasn't been deemed important enough be included in the new society. But, that's okay, Sia's got her list, and it just might lead her to a boy and a plan.



The Wrap-up List -- Available Now
Status: Read, Own
This is a weird one. The premise is that a rare amount of deaths, called "departures," occur when a creature, called Death, writes you a letter to say your time is almost up. Before you die, you make a wrap-up list of things you want to do before you die, including a pardon, a chance to save yourself by outsmarting your Death. Clever, different, love it.


Since You've Been Gone -- Available Now
Status: Currently Reading
Emily's wild best friend, Sloane, completely disappears, leaving only a to-do list. Hoping the list will lead her back to her friend, Emily starts checking off the tasks. So far, so good.

Popularity Lists:

The List -- Available Now
Status: Read, Wishlist
In the beginning of every school year a list is posted naming the prettiest and ugliest girl in each grade. You cycle through each of the girl's lives, seeing how their title changes things. This could be a good match for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, because of the "everyone has problems" theme. Bonus: the mystery of who posts the list.

They All Fall Down -- October 14, 2014
Status: Read
Every year at Vienna High a list of the ten hottest girls is posted. For these girls, the changes are instant: new friends and suitors, invitations to the best parties and connections that will make for a cushy future. Oh, and they also might become a target for murder, maybe. One by one, the girls on the list start dying.  I do not remember how this ends, but I do remember how much fun I had reading it.

Also Try:

Play Me Backwards -- August 26, 2014
Status: Read, Wishlist
No list in this one, more like a series of random assignments, but I thought the effect still felt the same. It's like a list where the next entry is a complete surprise--it could be anything. Basically, Leon, a slacker formerly in the gifted program, needs to get his life together. He begins to receive assignments from his best friend, Stan, who is possibly the Devil. It's from a guy's POV, but the mature relationships are portrayed in a respectful manner. I stayed up until 3 in the morning to finish it, because I couldn't put it down.

Are there more out there that I either forgot or haven't read yet?