Shadowland (Mediator) [Paperback]

Jenny Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2002 | Series: Mediator

'You're dead. You don't belong here.' Having travelled just about a gazillion miles from New York to California, the last thing Susannah expected was to see a ghost sitting in her nice new bedroom. Well maybe she did, except that she kinda hoped that things would be different here, you know, a new start and everything...Life hasn't been all that easy for Susannah. That's because Susannah talks to the dead [Angstrom] well they talk to her actually. Susannah's a mediator [Angstrom] a contact person for just about anybody who croaks, leaving things.. well, untidy. At least Jesse, the smoldering latino ghost who hangs out in her room isn't dangerous. Unlike Heather, who has taken up residence at Susannah's new high school, and is very very angry..

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The inaugural installment of The Mediator series introduces high school sophomore Suze, who, in her words, has "this unfortunate ability to communicate with the dead." As a "mediator," the girl helps ghosts put unresolved issues to rest so they can move on to the next world. When her mother remarries, Suze moves from New York City to California, where she and her three stepbrothers attend a Catholic academy headed by a priest. Conveniently, the priest is also a mediator (the first of her kind that Suze has ever met). During the course of this rather repetitious and intermittently sluggish caper, Suze encounters two ghosts: a handsome young man from the 19th century who haunts her bedroom and a girl who was a student at the academy until she killed herself when Bryce, her boyfriend, broke up with her. As Suze attempts to protect Bryce from the angry apparition's wrath, the ghostly girl grows determined to get revenge on both her former beau and Suze. Suze finally resorts to an exorcism to get rid of her. As a narrator this teen is a bit too tough-talking and cocky to be credible. Still, the intriguing premise of a 16-year-old with a sixth sense may stand more than a ghost of a chance at snaring teen readers. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jenny Carroll is the author of the bestselling "Princess Diaries" series. She worked as a dorm manager in a large urban university and her experiences set the premise for The Mediator. She currently resides in New York City with her husband.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Childrens Books (January 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743430506
• ISBN-13: 978-0743430500
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (137 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,099,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful first book in the Mediator series., January 14, 2005

By 

Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shadowland (The Mediator, Book 1) (Paperback)

Ever since she saw her first ghost at the age of two, Susannah Simon has been a mediator - in other words, a contact person between the living and the dead. It's her responsibility to help troubled spirits move on to the next world. And it's a responsibility she has always resented. At sixteen, Susannah just wants to be a normal teenage girl, worried about clothes and boys, not dead people. And now that her mom's remarried, she's had to leave New York City, the only home she's ever known, to move all the way to northern California. Her new stepdad's not too bad, but her three stepbrothers are a pain, and on the first day of school, she's confronted by the angry ghost of Heather, a girl who committed suicide over Christmas break. Susannah figures it won't be too hard to get Heather to move on - until it becomes clear that she's the most violent spirit Susannah has ever encountered. Heather won't rest until she gets revenge on her ex-boyfriend for breaking up with her.

This book starts off a great series by Meg Cabot that is one of my favorite series ever. The next five books are just as great. This series combines mystery, suspense, humor, and romance, and so will appeal to teens with various tastes in reading. I also highly recommend that all of Meg Cabot's fans give it a try - even though this series is very different than her other books, in my opinion, it's her best ever.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read, great characters, March 22, 2001

By 

Tamora Pierce (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shadowland (The Mediator) (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed SHADOWLAND so much that I immediately ordered the second book and WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES, a non-Mediator book by Jenny Carroll. Susannah doesn't just see dead people: she touches them, talks to them, and occasionally deals with them much more firmly. She's a mediator, someone who can set things right between the dead and those people still living the dead want to communicate with. For some reason this makes her life a little more difficult than most. People call the cops on her when she enters their yards to pass on messages, or when she damages property in her efforts to send a really troublesome spirit on its way (did I mention that being dead means you can learn to move, and throw, heavy objects?). Sh's just left her beloved New York and her best (and only) friend for California, a stepdad and three step brothers, and the very handsome ghost who haunts her bedroom. Susannah is definitely a grrl for the new century, trying to fit into a new family, a new school, and a new culture. She's believable in her struggles with dating, school, her old-fashioned roommate, and the death of her dad. And a number of the secondary characters are interesting, funny, and their own people: intellectual CeeCee, hormone boy Adam, Susannah's step-brothers, her mother and step-dad, Jesse the ghost. My favorite at the moment is Father Dominic, the head of Susannah's new high school, a priest who's kind, clever and idealistic without being syrupy. He's trying to teach Susannah that sometimes a gentler approach with people works far more efficiently than a right hook to the gut . . . He's got his work cut out for him! Great fun, a great read--now I just have to be patient and wait for the third Mediator book!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A New Start in California, March 4, 2005

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shadowland (The Mediator, Book 1) (Paperback)

Suze Simon is starting a new life. She has just joined the rest of her family in Carmel, California. The rest of her family consists of her mother, a new step-dad and three new step-brothers. This would be hard enough if it wasn't for the fact that Suze sees dead people.

Suze is a mediator. That means she is able to see and interact with ghosts. These are people with some unfinished business. As a mediator she is to help them cross over. She came upon this talent at the age of two and has had a hard time dealing with it. Her personal record has been far from spotless as she tries to be a mediator and not look insane to the rest of the world.

Now in her new home with her new family, Suze has new challenges. One is a 150-year-old ghost named Jessie that lives in her bedroom. The other is a new ghost at her new school. This one is very angry and bent on destruction and mayhem. Suze must protect the lives of others, the lives of herself and her family, and try not to look completely crazy in her first days at school. But Suze manages to get some help from two unexpected sources.

A pretty good story. I would like to know more of Suze's pre-Californian adventures but there are only vague hints. What we do get is a fast and wild story that is sort of a cross between Fearless and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A good read.