Customer Reviews

Newbies

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After the death of their Mother, Brittany Corin's older brother, Chris, who happens to be a lottery winner, ships her off to Dunhaven Academy, where she can receive a good education, and be disciplined by people she might actually listen to. Brittany instantly despises Dunhaven, and most of the students despise her as well, seeing as how she's a "newbie." But she does find friendship in the form of a nerd named Casey. However, when students begin disappearing, and suddenly a "Townie" - a person who lives in the town of Hobbs Point, New England - and a "Schoolie" - a student who has attended Dunhaven for years - are rumored to have committed suicide, people begin saying that Brittany was the cause of it. So, she decides to clear her name of the false allegation, and with the help of a few "Schoolies," Brittany quickly realizes that a "Townie," is messing with witchcraft, and has summoned an evil greater than anyone can control.

SMOOCH YA has published many fantastic novels for teens by all different authors, yet none have ever come from a male voice, which is the case with NEWBIES. James A. Moore is a welcome voice to the SMOOCH team of authors, as his descriptions, and horrifying prose will keep even the most composed reader on the edge of his or her seat. Whether you're a fan of teen fiction, science fiction, or horror, NEWBIES will appeal to you.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Being the new kid in a boarding school and knowing no one can be scary enough without adding in mysterious disappearances and suicide. Unfortunately, Brittany Corin is faced with both. Her close mouthed stance regarding her past began as a way of shielding herself and her troubled past from scrutiny, but rumors are even worse than the truth, and then people begin disappearing, and being Miss Enigma makes Brittany a suspect in the mystery. She is even more so when her name is cited as the culprit in a suicide note. Forced from her solitude to clear herself of the accusations, Brittany must save herself and her classmates from a devilish nightmare that can use her own darkness against her as its chief weapon.

*** Subtle horror and Dante inspired images interweave with the ordinary to crescendo in a psychological nightmare that has a message for those who have ears to hear. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

While raising his younger sister Brittany, Chris Corin decides to send her to the exclusive Dunhaven Academy so that she can receive a quality education. Brittany hates the place as she fits in nowhere and with just about no one except a couple of nerds. Within a few days at the place she learns first hand the classifications that define the local youth caste system. Newbies are like her new students; Schoolies are those who have attended the academy for years; finally a Townie is those from the nearby town of Hobbs Point.

When students begin to disappear and a Townie turned Schoolie commits suicide, rumors spread that Brittany is the cause. She decides to clear her name, but needs help and receives this from several Schoolies including two adversaries. As they begin to dig deeper, Brittany's most dangerous enemy has turned to evil summoning something from the beyond. Only Brittany if she can conquer her fears stands a chance of defeating this antagonist and its monster.

This is an engaging preadolescent to early teen horror tale that emphasizes the struggle to belong when one is an outsider, but does so inside a mystery that ultimately takes a twist into the horror genre. The story line grips young readers as they will appreciate how Brittany stands up for herself and her friends against nasty fellow students (think the snob beauties at the prom in Barrymore's Never Been Kissed), bullying Townie, and a malevolence that threatens her life and that of her pals. Youthful fans will appreciate this fine tale as long as they are not attending a sleep over academy.

Harriet Klausner

This is a Moore's first Young Adult novel. Unfortunately it is confusing as all get out because of countless references to events never fully explained. This is because the events are detailed in his non-Young Adult novel POSSESSIONS. Those who read this one first will be inundated with countless references to things they don't know about.

Brittany Corin has been sent away to school by her brother. Withing a week of being a Newbie and the scorn of the school, she gets wrapped up in a rash of missing students. This gets tied into the rivalry between the Schoolies and the Townies. Very quickly she is catapulted into a growing horror complete with sacrifices, the occult and horrible monsters.

Mr. Moore usually is a pretty good writer but I am not sure what happened here. Ignoring all of the references to a previous book, there is still plenty of bad writing. Most is in the form of inconsistencies in descriptions. For example, there is a wooden platform in the story. It is first described as, "It was a sturdy structure but not much to look at." A few minutes later in the plot it is described as, "and the platform was rickety to begin with." I'm not really sure what the author was thinking or if it is an editorial mistake.

Despite its obvious flaws this is still an entertaining book (if annoying) even if you haven't read Possessions. The action is fast and the plot moves quickly. Fun it is but literature it ain't.

I have to admit that I bought this James A. Moore novel thinking that it was his new horror novel. Moore has written many great tales of horror that have astonished me in many ways. But Newbies, his first Young Adult novel, is a mess. Repetitive, hastily plotted and filled with unbelievable characters, this one feels like the outline of a bigger, maybe better novel that was never given the light of day.

Brittany is attending the Dunhaven Academy, a very expensive private school lost in the heart of a dying small town. It's not easy being the new girl in school. She has trouble making friends, and she has trouble making amends with her past.

Kids at school are disappearing without a trace. And when Reggie, the town's bully, kidnaps Brittany's only friend, Casey, events take a strange turn into the mystical and the paranormal.

I like YA novels. But writing a YA story doesn't mean that you have to dumb things down for your audience. Here, it's as if Moore is writing this story for seven year olds. He explains things over and over and over again. He always presents the characters even though we already knows them (instead of just referring to Kelly, it's always her new friend Kelly, instead of just naming Casey, it's always her brother Casey). In one instance, the words 'of sorts' appear seven time on the very same page.

The whole thing seems that have been written in haste. The story could have been trimmed down by fourty pages without losing anything whatsoever. This one is a major disappointment, because Moore is a very talented and effective writer. But with this one, he completely missed the boat.