Dead Is the New Black [Paperback]

Marlene Perez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008 | Series: Dead Is (Book 1)

Welcome to Nightshade, California—a small town full of secrets. It’s home to the pyschic Giordano sisters, who have a way of getting mixed up in mysteries. During their investigations, they run across everything from pom-pom-shaking vampires to shape-shifting boyfriends to a clue-spewing jukebox. With their psychic powers and some sisterly support, they can crack any case!

Teenage girls are being mysteriously attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy Giordano is a junior. When Daisy discovers that a vampire may be the culprit, she can’t help but suspect head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new “look.” Samantha appears a little . . . well, dead, and all the most popular kids at school are copying her style.

Is looking dead just another fashion trend for Samantha, or is there something more sinister going on? To find out, Daisy joins the cheerleading squad.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—Nightshade, CA, is downright strange and full of the unexpected. When the girl-to-be, cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, begins the school year with a completely new look, Daisy Giordano gets suspicious. The fact that Samantha appears dead doesn't seem to bother anyone, and before long looking dead becomes the rage. Being dead takes on a whole new meaning when a girl is mysterious attacked and turns up in the morgue, and other cheerleaders are stricken with seizures. Daisy and her psychic sisters get to work investigating the goings-on and learn that the culprit is really a vampire, and Daisy is determined to get to the bottom of things. This is the witty and humorous first installment in a series; it provides romance, mystery, friendship, adventure, and the supernatural all rolled up in a fast-paced, plot-twisting story. Readers will identify with Daisy and her struggle to accept and appreciate who she really is and what she has to offer. The slapstick humor and tough attitudes mixed with the occult make this an entertaining choice for teen libraries.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

2011 Popular Paperbacks Titles Award
An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

"Fans who mourn the loss of TV's Veronica Mars are in for a treat as Perez delivers a wise-cracking, boy-lusting, determined sleuth of a high school protagonist . . . this quick, lighter-than-air spoof of the undead, cheerleaders and popularity is pure pleasure."—Publishers Weekly

"Witty and humorous . . . provides romance, mystery, friendship, adventure, and the supernatural all rolled up in a fast-paced, plot-twisting story."—School Library Journal

"Starts off with a sweet bang—lots of plot lines are set in place, and the characters are well drawn and a bit off the beaten track."—VOYA, (4Q4P) paperback series roundup

"Fans who mourn the loss of TV's Veronica Mars are in for a treat as Perez (Unexpected Development) delivers a wise-cracking, boy-lusting, determined sleuth of a high school protagonist named Daisy Giordano. . . . This quick, lighter-than-air spoof of the undead, cheerleaders and popularity is pure pleasure. Teens will be glad to know two sequels are already in the pipeline."



—Publishers Weekly (9/01/08 )

(Publishers Weekly 20080901)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Graphia; 1 edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152064087
• ISBN-13: 978-0152064082
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MARLENE PEREZ is the author of many books, including the Dead Is series, The Comeback, Love in the Corner Pocket, and Unexpected Development, an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. She lives in Orange County, California. www.marleneperez.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to Nightshade... January 14, 2009

By S. McCullough TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the first in a series of Paranmormal adventure's aimed for young adults 12 years and up. I am not in the market range but I enjoyed this story very much before passing it along to my stepdaughter. I intend to read the other books in this series as well. This book tells the story of Daisy, a non-psychic child who lives with her mother (a psychic) and her sisters Rose and Poppy, who both have psychic abilites. Daisy feels like she doesn't quite fit in. With her family or at school. But suddenly Nighshade's cheerleaders are becoming very deathly ill..its almost like something is literally sucking the life from them. As a favor to her ex-best friend Samantha, Daisy joins the squad. From that vantage point, Daisy and her new boyfriend start to investigate the murder of a teenage girl who shows up walking and talking to the pep rally...It soon apparent that Nightshade has more than its fair share of odd beings. This story was quick and quirky and fun. It definetly caught and kept my attention and my step-daughter loved it. The writing is well done and the characters are well crafted. The paranormal jukebox is just one of many great touches. I think this book will captivate any teen or pre-teen and maybe their parents. I recomend this book as lighthearted, clean, paranormal fun.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great start to a quirky, young-adult, urban-fantasy, mystery series August 15, 2010

By Kate McMurry TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Daisy Giordano has lived her entire seventeen years in the quirky little town of Nightshade in Northern California, where vampires, werewolves, banshees, and witches roam freely, unbeknownst to the ordinary residents. Daisy's family members are magically gifted, too--all except Daisy. Her mother receives premonitions and revelatory images; her eighteen-year-old sister Poppy moves objects without touching them via telekinesis, and her nineteen-year-old sister Rose reads minds. Daisy's mom insists she's a late bloomer, but Daisy has little hope she will ever be able to do anything psychic.

As a result, Daisy feels left out in her family at the best of times as the only "norm," but when her mother, who uses her powers to help the local police chief, asks Rose to assist her in figuring out who murdered a local cheerleader, it's the last straw. Daisy may not have psychic powers, but the crime happened to one of her fellow students at Nightshade High School, where Daisy is a junior and Poppy a senior, and she's determined to do something about it. Whoever--or whatever--killed the cheerleader is starting to harm other cheerleaders, and at the top of Daisy's list of suspects is her ex-friend and current enemy, the gorgeous head-cheerleader, Samantha. Sam has returned to school this fall looking and dressing like a vampire, and Daisy thinks Sam might actually be one. With the help of her long-time best friend Ryan, Daisy sets out to solve the case while trying not to get distracted by her uncomfortably non-platonic feelings for Ryan, who has recently morphed into an amazingly hot guy.

I loved this book! It's a fun read, and a fast one--especially since I couldn't put it down once I started it. Daisy is an immensely likable heroine with a great family, and her romantic interest, Ryan, is adorable. Nightshade itself has a delightful cast of quirky paranormal characters, and one of my favorites is the enchanted juke box at the local diner. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy with a light, and frequently comic, touch.

Note for parents, teachers and librarians: This book is G-rated. There are no incidents of drinking, drugs or adolescent sex either on or offstage, and Daisy's family relationships are warm and loving.

I grade the book as follows:

Heroine - 5 stars
Subcharacters - 5 stars
Fantasy world-building - 4.5 stars
Writing - 5 stars
Mystery Plot - 3.5 stars for adult readers and older teens, 5 stars for younger teens
Romantic Subplot - 5 stars
Overall - 5 stars

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Daisy is instantly likable and everyone can relate to the angst that is the teenage years January 13, 2009

By Rachel P. Smith

Format:Paperback

Daisy Giordano is a junior at Nightshade High and a "norm." Her sisters have inherited her mother's psychic abilities: one can read minds and the other has the gift of telekinesis. Her father, who vanished mysteriously five years ago, was also a "norm". Though her mother assures her she is probably just a late bloomer, Daisy can't help feeling left out at home.

School is not much better. Her former best friend Samantha, the "it girl" and star cheerleader of Nightshade High, has returned from summer vacation sporting the "walking dead" look complete with the mini casket on wheels she drags behind her. When Daisy is encouraged to join the cheerleading squad, she wonders what complete humiliation Samantha has in store for her this time.

Daisy's mom, being psychic, works with the town police chief on tough cases. When her mom seems stumped on a case involving the mysterious death of a teenage girl, Daisy is determined to help her. It doesn't hurt that the police chief's son just happens to be her best friend and the cutest guy at Nightshade High. But when the girl's body mysteriously disappears from the morgue and the girl herself makes a surprise appearance at Daisy's first pep rally as a cheerleader, things get really interesting.

Marlene Perez has done a fabulous job of creating the town of Nightshade, California where nothing is as it seems and no one is who they seem to be. (Cue Twilight Zone theme here). Daisy is instantly likable and everyone can relate to the angst that is the teenage years and struggling to find your place in the world, even if Daisy's world is a touch more supernatural than most. The plot twisted, turned and kept me guessing right up until the very end. I thoroughly enjoyed this first installment of a promising new series and I am looking forward to reading about Daisy's further adventures in Dead Is a State of Mind.

Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Lori
The Bitten by Books review score for this book was 4.5 Tombstones