Visions.

Deborah Dowson is a Canaadian children’s librarian in North Wales,
Pennsylvania.

Jade acquired her psychic ability when she almost died of meningitis a few months ago. So far, she has kept it a secret from everyone except her family and her boyfriend, whom she had to tell because she needed to warn him about a dangerous situation. She is afraid to tell her best friend, Susie, who is a realist and a skeptic, but Jade misses confiding in her best friend, and she also needs to explain that she is having a premonition that something bad will happen to Susie. Jade is experiencing premonitions of murder, and she wants to learn how to control her ability in order to save the victims. By using logic, together with some techniques to assist her intuition, Jade is able to solve the mystery of the threat to Susie and stop a tragedy from happening to her family.

This second story in the Freak Series contains enough background to stand very well on its own. The book is an ideal choice for reluctant teen readers with its intriguing premise of a girl coming to terms with her psychic ability as she solves a murder mystery. The plot is well paced and suspenseful, the characters well defined and credible, and the conclusion satisfying. Matas does a wonderful job of integrating thoughtful, philosophical, and psychological issues into the story while maintaining the easy-to-read pace and the intriguing suspense. Highly recommended.