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Margo: There is just something that I like about British authors of young adult novels. They never seem condescending to their readers and the characters always come across as "real," neither completely good nor completely bad -- just human. The complicated and gritty bits are not left out of the stories. Though these are the first books I've read by Vivien Alcock, I was pleased to find that her writing is no exception.

Alice: I like Alcock's writing too, especially the way she treats her readers as young adults. Her characters aren't virtue-mongers spouting classic platitudes, but real teens facing real-life issues and learning from their mistakes and misjudgments.

In The Trial of Anna Cotman (cover art by Barbara McClintock), a young teenager just moved in to a new town gets involved in a secret club. The members wear masks and have code names and secret rituals. While Anna joins the Society of Masks as a game, things get more mysterious and strange when a new leader is sworn in. Anna gets caught up in a very realistic and disturbing situation when she breaks the rules. I found this to be a very haunting portrayal of peer pressure that is genuinely scary without being heavy-handed.

Margo: The Red-Eared Ghosts (cover art by Barbara McClintock) is a great combination of fantasy and the supernatural set in modern day London. The main character is a young teenage girl who can see ghosts... who all have red ears. There is an unexpected shift in plot focus halfway through the book which takes the reader on a bizarre ride into an alternate world. The characters are strongly written and the pace is swift. This is a truly well written and entertaining story, though I was disappointed that the red ears are never explained.

Alice: The Haunting of Cassie Palmer (cover art by Barbara McClintock) is likewise a great combination of fantasy and the supernatural. Cassie, the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, has been primed for years to be her quack-mystic mother's replacement, a career path she resists tooth and nail. On a lark one night, she goes to the cemetery to call up a spirit... and frighteningly, she succeeds. But instead of the little girl she was hoping for, this spirit is a middle-aged man in the next grave who has an all-too-disturbing solution for Anna's simple teenage problems. The mystery at the center of this novel lies in learning who this Deverill is; it becomes quite a character test for Anna as she discovers his background and realizes that no one is easily judged by externals alone.

Margo: By contrast, The Cuckoo Sister (cover art by Barbara McClintock) is not a fantasy at all. It is about a stolen baby who has grown up and returns home to her real parents after 15 years. There is supposed to be a mystery at the centre of this novel, but, to me, the sense of mystery was lost. I kept waiting for something unexpected to happen, a real plot twist, but it never came. Fortunately, with this author, the writing is strong and the characters well developed so the story is definitely readable, if not a little disappointing.

Alice: I did not find The Trial or Haunting disappointing in the least. And I strongly agree that the writing is excellent, with believable characters who grow and change. These books present inspiring and insightful messages that are not too obvious. I want first dibs on the next one!

Alice is a Contributing Editor to the SF Site. She taught Comparative Literature and French at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1988 to 1994 (give or take a semester). Her time is taken up these days with her two children and the SF Site, both of which are joint projects with her husband.