“NEW GIRL,” by Paige Harbison, Harlequin Teen, Jan. 31, 2012, $9.99 paperback (ages 14 and up)
A beautiful and intoxicating creature, her mysterious disappearance and a love haunted by her memory. There is only one story these elements can truly describe — “Rebecca.”
Or, in Paige Harbison‘s case, “New Girl.”
Based on Daphne du Maurier’s classic tale, “New Girl” is a modernized mystery for the young adult crowd.
Manderley Academy is a posh private school that many would dream of getting into. The school’s newest student dreamed of going there when she was younger, but now that it’s her senior year, she’d rather not attend class halfway across the country. But her parents are so excited and it is the opportunity of a lifetime.
A new student isn’t that big of news, not when it’s Rebecca Normandy that she’s replacing. Becca. Perfect in every way Becca. She went missing at the end of last year and no one can forget her — especially her roommate Dana, who practically worshiped her.
Being the new girl is hard enough, but when everyone acts like your to blame for a stranger’s disappearance, life can be more than a challenge. Add to your already full plate the unwanted attention of the two boys who were Becca’s suitors and you know you’re in trouble.
Becca’s coming back, at least that’s what Dana says. And getting in her way could be very dangerous.
A disclaimer: “Rebecca” is one of my favorite books of all time. My mom handed me a copy of it when I was 12, and I was hooked. When I mean favorite, I mean favorite. Not only did I write a paper on the book for a college class, I also wrote a paper on the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock adaptation of it.
Needless to say, I came into “New Girl” with some pretty strong feelings. I really wanted to like it, if only for its predecessor’s sake. And I couldn’t help but compare the two throughout.
Like “Rebecca,” in “New Girl” the narrator’s name (new girl) is never revealed. I know that sounds weird, but it really works, setting the tone for how “unimportant” the narrator feels and how she is viewed by her peers.
Paige does a great job of setting the tone, almost Gothic in nature. Her narrator is rich and well-developed and the perfect temperament for what she goes through. But the narrator is not the main character. She shares the billing with Becca, whose character unfolds in a series of flashbacks.
This is a departure from the source material and does well to set Paige’s book apart. I found Becca to be an unsympathetic individual and could have lived without those details, but readers new to the story will most likely appreciate the character counterpoint with the narrator.
I really enjoyed many elements of “New Girl,” but I almost put it down about 100 pages in. The problem: an obscene amount of partying — underage drinking, drugs and casual sex, which went into surprising detail for a YA book.
I would not hand “New Girl” to a 12-year-old and I probably wouldn’t even give it to a mature 14-year-old. I’m not so sheltered to question whether the above activities happen in real life, though I think these quantities are more the exception than the norm.
I did finish “New Girl” despite these concerns, and either I became used to the negative elements or they were less frequent later on. Turns out it was a good book. Not a great one, but worth reading if you don’t mind the previously mentioned issues.
