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Book Review By Debbie
Ninth Key by Jenny Carroll

There's no such thing as ghosts. Yeah, right. High school sophomore Susannah "Suze" Simon wishes that she was like everyone else and couldn't see ghosts, well, except for Jesse, the hot ghost who lives in her room. Anyway, Suze has only lived in California with her new stepfather and stepbrothers for two weeks and her life has already been a whirlwind of events - pool parties, dates with hot guys, exorcising killer schoolgirls, you know, the usual. Everything is going well until a woman shows up one night screaming and begging Suze to find "Red" and to tell him that he isn't responsible for her death.

Right. Tracking down a murderer is never easy, but tracking down someone who didn't murder someone isn't exactly easy either. Luckily, Suze is able to find out that "Red" is actually Tad Beaumont's father. Too bad that Tad is gorgeous, rich and one of the most popular guys in the area - and he even asked Suze out! Now, if only Suze can get at Tad's father and give him the message, she can get on with her social life. Unfortunately, once she does get in to see him, Suze finds out that Tad's father thinks he is a vampire and totally creeps her out. Suze knows that she has to do something to make Tad see that his dad and his uncle aren't exactly playing with a full deck, but she sure can't tell him how she knows!

This was a fabulous addition to the Mediator series and a great sequel to Shadowland, especially since they are so close timewise. Suze is in fine form in this book and lets nothing and no one get in her way. Sure, she gets scared, but when she gets scared she usually gets angry, too, so it is pretty entertaining. The supporting characters are great in this book and the story just sucks you in. If you haven't read Shadowland (the first book in the Mediator series), you will still understand what is going on, but I highly recommend that you read all of the books in the series as they are excellent!


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - upbeat
Time/era of story - 1980's-1999
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Kids: - solving crimes (scooby doooo!)
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Struggle over
Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14
Age group of kid(s) in story: - high school

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - a teen
Has magical powers? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 5 ()
United States Yes
The US: - California
City? Yes

Writing Style
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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