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Summary
Summary
The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper in the autumn of 1888.
Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police now believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.
Author Notes
Maureen Johnson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 16, 1973. She received an undergraduate degree in writing from the University of Delaware and a MFA in writing from Columbia University School of the Arts. After college and before graduate school, she was the literary manager of a Philadelphia theater company. Her first book, The Key to the Golden Firebird, was published in 2004. Her other works include 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Devilish, Suite Scarlett, The Last Little Blue Envelope, and the Shades of London series.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Rory Deveaux is from Louisiana and is excited to attend Wexford School in London while her parents teach on sabbatical in Bristol. After nearly choking to death on a piece of food, Rory discovers that she has the ability to see ghosts. She arrives in London in the midst of a series of Jack the Ripper copycat murders and becomes the only person who has seen the prime suspect in the case-but it takes her a while to realize that some of the people she has witnessed near the crime scenes are shades or ghosts. Before long, Rory becomes the murderer's target. She meets others with similar abilities, and together they work to solve the crime spree. Rory finds friendship, romance, and a home away from home in London while coming to terms with her special ability. Maureen Johnson's chilling, entertaining story (Putnam, 2011) is read at an appropriately suspenseful pace by Nicola Barber who does a fine job with the various Southern and British accents and gives each character a unique voice. Listeners will look forward to the other titles in the trilogy.-Cynthia Ortiz, Hackensack High School, NJ (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Johnson's supernatural thriller, Rory Deveaux, a teenager from smalltown Louisiana, arrives at a London boarding school just in time for a resurgence of Jack the Ripper-style serial killings. Soon, Rory finds herself the target of a mysterious murderer as she attempts to navigate the complex social circles of boarding school and uncover London's ghostly secrets. Nicola Barber strains to create a believable American accent for Rory's first-person narration and delivers her dialogue as if the young protagonist were constantly on the verge of a swoon. Additionally, Barber often fails to capture Rory's teenage flippancy, opting instead for breathy enthusiasm. However, the novel boasts a colorful supporting cast of British characters, and in rendering their voices Barber shines, breathing life into everyone from the coach of the school's field hockey team to the "queen bee" of a clique at boarding school. Ages 12-up. A Putnam hardcover. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Upon arriving in London from Louisiana for the school year, high-school senior Rory is told that someone "pulled a Jack the Ripper" the night before. She assumes the phrase is some quaint British colloquialism she has yet to learn, not an actual reference to a gruesome murder committed on the same date -- August 31 -- and in the same location. The smart, breezy, self-deprecating narration and textured boarding school atmosphere provide easy entrance to this increasingly eerie murder mystery in which the only sure thing is the schedule -- Jack's. On September 8, the anniversary of the Ripper's second strike, police find another body near Wexford, Rory's school. Johnson raises the stakes even further after Rory has a near-death experience, starts seeing people her classmates don't, and falls in with a ragtag undercover group investigating the possibility that the murders have a paranormal explanation. Suspenseful and utterly absorbing, this first book in the Shades of London series will leave readers glad that Johnson, like her copycat killer, plans to return to the scene of the crime. christine m. heppermann (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A clever, scary, little-bit-sexy beginning to a series that takes Louisiana teen Rory to London.Rory's parents are teaching for a year at the University of Bristol, so she gets to spend senior year at Wexford, a London boarding school. She recounts her story, from mining her colorful relatives for stories to wow her English classmates, coming to grips with heavier course loads and making a couple of fairly adorable friends. But London is soon caught up in fear, as a copycat killer has begun recreating Jack the Ripper's bloody murders in gruesome detail. Johnson fearlessly takes readers from what seems like a cool innocent-abroad-with-iPod story to supernatural thriller, when Rory sees a man no one else does on campus the night of one of those murders. Enter a trio of young folks who are ghost hunters of a very specific sort. The tension ramps up exquisitely among cups of tea, library visits and the London Underground. The explosive ending is genuinely terrifying but never loses the wit, verve and humor that Rory carries with her throughout. While this tale does conclude, it does so with a complicated revelation that will have readers madly eager for the next installment.Nice touches about friendship, kissing, research and the way a boy's curls might touch his collar fully integrate with a clear-eyed look at a pitiless killer. (Supernatural thriller. 12-18)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Flip-flop-wearing. Chee. Whiz-eating 18-year-old Rory has left her Louisiana home to spend her senior year at an esteemed London school, Wexford. Her arrival, though, is met by a series of grisly murders precisely mirroring the 1888 killings of Jack the Ripper and Wexner is right in the center of Saucy Jack's stomping grounds. After a near-death experience, Rory finds herself with the ability to see the shades, ghosts drifting about London. This ability brings her to the attention of a squad of young people with similar talents who are working with the authorities to sniff out the copycat killer before the final murder takes place. Johnson proves again that she has the perfect brisk pitch for YA literature, never overplaying (or underplaying) the various elements of tension, romance, and attitude. The mechanics of the squad's ghost busting are a little goofy, but, otherwise, this is a cut above most paranormal titles, with a refreshing amount of space given to character building. What's that coming through the fog? Yes, it's more volumes in the Shades of London series headed our way.--Kraus, Danie. Copyright 2010 Booklist