Dead on Town Line by Leslie Connor

Dead on Town Line by Leslie Connor
ISBN: 0-14-240697-X
Pages: 131
Back of Book Description:

Of all the revelations her afterlife brings, perhaps the most startling thing Cassie Devlin discovers is that being dead isn't being done. Murdered by a classmate, Cassie finds herself stuck on the edges of the world she once knew and a realm whose tug she feels but can't quite find her way to. And...she is not alone. there's another like her, who arrived earlier and who, like Cassie, has some unfinished business.

Beautifully crafted in free verse, Dead on Town Line offers a reading experience that will linger in the mind and heart long after the last page is turned.

My Rating: A+

My Review:

Kaylee came over last Wednesday to show me all the books she had bought (quite cheap!) and i picked up this one because I really liked the cover. I opened it up and read a page in the middle and quickly turned to her and said

"I don't think I will ever truly understand poetry"

She nodded and we went on talking. At some point I opened the book back up again and read the first page and BAM! the book started making sense. So I read the second page...and the third...and the fourth...and then begged to borrow the book before she could read it. She agreed and I was a happy camper.

This may have been one of the best book decisions I've made this year! I loved this book. It's quite short, 131 pages of free verse isn't all that long, and I read the entire thing at work. I would say it would take the average reader roughly an hour to read, if that.

I couldn't keep quiet the entire time I was reading it. I kept telling my co-worker "You have to read this!" and texting Kaylee "You HAVE to come get this book as soon as I'm done, it's amazing!!"

The free verse doesn't make the story at all confusing, it's quite easy to understand what is going on. The suspense is amazing, and the characters grow through the story in a way that I didn't expect with such a short book. I was left with this haunting feeling after I finished it.

At which point, I went home from work, after shedding a tear while reading, called my mother, and read it again! At first I heard a little sigh on the phone as if to say "Really? You're going to read an ENTIRE book to me over the phone?" but after I was done she said "Oh My God! I'm so glad you read that to me sweetie, it was incredible".

Here's the only problem with the book (which I noticed on some sights people actually lowered the rating of the book because of...) it's marked at 6.99 in paperback, and I don't know what in hardback. It takes an hour to read...get it from a friend, Paperbackswap, or your library. But whatever you do, GET it. This book is everything the back of the cover says, and it is lingering with me. It might even be my top book of the year!