Black Mirror [Paperback]

Nancy Werlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2003

Frances Leventhal's brother Daniel has committed suicide at the exclusive Pettengill School. But there is more to his death than meets the eye! 16-year-old Frances Leventhal, half Japanese, half Jewish American, can't bear to look at herself in the mirror. She has hidden from herself and everyone around her for years, and now that her brother Daniel has committed suicide by taking a massive heroine overdose, she can't help thinking that it's all her fault. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own insecurities, maybe she would have noticed her brother's pain. It's time to stop hiding -- to reach out to Daniel's friends at their private school, where they were both scholarship pupils. Daniel had been deeply involved in Unity Service, the charitable group famed across the country for its work through schools, and Frances is determined to join the group and somehow make amends. But something's not right about Unity, and soon Frances finds herself in the middle of a puzzle too ominous to ignore. Exactly what are the Unity members trying to conceal? This time, Francis isn't hiding. The memory of her brother is at stake.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The snowy prep school setting is the perfect backdrop for Werlin's (The Killer's Cousin) chilling and well-constructed mystery. Her narrator is a unique creation, a girl who begins to discover herself as she unravels a huge conspiracy. Frances Leventhal, half Jewish and half Japanese and confused about her identity, comes from a dysfunctional family: her father writes unpublishable science fiction and her mother has entered a Buddhist monastery in Osaka. Attending the elite Pettengill School only because of a scholarship, she has trouble connecting with anyone except a retarded groundskeeper and her art teacher. However, when her brother dies of a heroin overdose, Frances feels compelled to join the charitable organization that he was obsessed with. But something's not right about Unity Service nor with one of its student leaders, her brother's girlfriend Saskia, who's determined to keep her out. Frances's aptitude for art feels familiar, and her relationship with the groundskeeper, Andy, who's slow but true and calls her by her full name, is a bit too precious, but readers will empathize with Frances and her sense of alienation and longing. Even as Frances and Andy start to put the pieces together, Werlin continues to take readers through unexpected and exciting turns. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Werlin has written an intriguing story using subtle foreshadowing to build tension and create a sense of urgency while weaving a psychological study of a high school student who has no friends and little self-esteem. Abandoned by her mother and raised by an emotionally distant father, Frances, a teen of Japanese-Jewish descent, struggles to accept herself and cope with her brother's suicide. She recognizes that to come to grips with her guilt and grief, she must understand the reasons behind Daniel's tragic death. Daniel was actively involved with Unity, their private school's charitable organization, but Frances avoided it, even though it was responsible for both siblings' scholarships. She feels the need to carry on his work with Unity despite the unwillingness of the group to accept her. As time passes, she senses that things are not right; teachers, students, and the organization itself are not who they seem to be. What she uncovers puts her own life in danger and leads to some shocking truths about Daniel's life and death. Readers will relate to Frances's internal and external struggles as she tries to sort out the motives of the various characters with whom she comes in contact. Werlin has hit the jackpot with this well-written and masterfully developed novel. A can't-put-it-down mystery thriller.

Susan Geye, Crowley Ninth Grade Campus, TX

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins Childs (November 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007141688
• ISBN-13: 978-0007141685
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,232,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Werlin was born and raised in Peabody, Massachusetts, USA and now lives near Boston. She received her bachelor's degree in English from Yale.Since then, she has worked as a technical writer and editor for several computer software and Internet companies, while also writing fiction. She is a National Book Award finalist.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, though I liked her other books better., October 9, 2001

By 

Meaghan Good "meggilyweggily" (Venedocia, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Mirror (Hardcover)

The best thing about this book, I think, is the characters. They were very well developed. Frances, who is so solemn and depressed. James, her love object, who isn't who he seems. Saskia, the cold and scheming little witch. Andy, retarded but very gentle. Etc. While in general it wasn't as well executed as "Locked Inside" and "The Killer's Cousin" and "Are You Alone" I liked it a lot. I started reading it in a bus station and went kind of in a trance, forgetting the heat and the noise and exhaust. After I was finished I thought about it for a long time. Like, I still can't make up my mind about Saskia; whether what she did was good or bad. Or James for that matter, and what he thought about Frances. All in all: yet another wonderful book from Nancy; I can't wait to read the next one!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book, June 6, 2003

By 

Nea (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Mirror (Hardcover)

Frances's only friend was her brother, Daniel. But when they started at Pettengill school they started to grow apart, and now, 2 years later, she realizes that she didn't know anything about Daniel. He apparently killed himself with an overdose of heroin, and Frances feels terrible. To try to make herself feel better she wants to join Unity, the charity that gave them scholarships to the school. Daniel was very involved with Unity and was ashamed that Frances didn't want to join. But now when she wants to her brother's girlfriend Saskia, and most of the other members don't want her. She is confused by it and the more she finds out, the more she notices is strange with Unity.

Black Mirrow is a good book that I couldn't stop reading. Frances is an interesting character and I can relate to alot of what she is feeling. The other characters were well portrayed too and it was as much them as the plot of the story that made me want to find out what was going to happen. At the end I was completely suprised. Nancy Werlin is a good writer and all her books are great, but this one really made me think.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling &Chilling, April 6, 2002

By 

"paradise_found" (Musicland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Mirror (Hardcover)

Black Mirror is the story of a young girl searching for many things- a sense of family, her true identity and peace with herself.

The book follows a bumpy road of life after Frances's brother Daniel commits suicide. Frances, shy and suffering low self-concept, feels that without her brother, she should make some sort of effort to fit into the school she never really belonged to. Her odd life with divorced parents (her mother studying Buddhism miles away) and mixed heritage leads her to believe she can never fit in anywhere.

The author makes the characters both realistic and unique, creating an environment to completely immerse the reader in.

Frances decides to join Unity, a school charity group. But as the mentally challenged janitor James points out, it's "all fake work." Unity is a front for something else, and Frances and James are the only ones who know. Did her brother Daniel really commit suicide? Was there a note? And why is her art teacher so insistant that she join Unity, anyway? Read this, one of the best for YA in 2001, to find out.