The Scarlet Letterman - Cara Lockwood

The Scarlet Letterman
A Bard Academy Novel
Cara Lockwood
MTV Books/ Pocket

Young Adult/ Fantasy

NOTE: If you haven’t read the first book in this series, WUTHERING HIGH, this review contains some very serious plot spoilers.

Miranda Tate is back at the Bard Academy for her second semester. The Bard is pretty much an isolated boarding school for juvenile delinquents. But it’s not like most of the kids there are hardened criminals. Miranda, for instance, crashed her dad’s car and ran up her step-monster’s credit card. One of her friends, Samir, refuses to enter into a marriage arranged by his parents when he was a toddler.

As the second semester starts, Miranda is dating her dream guy and basketball hero, Ryan Kent, a boy she knew long before Bard. Of course, the Queen B—of Bard, Parker Rodham isn’t pleased with that particular development. And when she’s attacked (shoved, actually, although to hear her tell it she nearly died) by Hooded Sweatshirt Guy, she manages to get Ryan to escort her everywhere on campus. For her own safety, of course. These attacks continue, all around campus, notably among Parker’s little band of clones.

Then something really scary happens. Coach H disappears. This is really scary because the teachers are all ghosts. Miranda and her best friends learned this during first semester, but were sworn to secrecy. The friends decide to investigate, but it’s pretty difficult to track down a ghost when you can’t even tell anyone he’s a ghost. Then Ms. W goes missing, just after telling Miranda that she’s a suspect in Coach H’s disappearance. Naturally, Miranda is a suspect there, too. Of course, she didn’t do it. Have you ever tried to prove that you didn’t do something? Then you have a very vague idea of Miranda’s problems.

This is an excellent sequel to WUTHERING HIGH. All the characters are back for the spring semester, and the danger this time is even greater. The key to the mystery is literary, as befits Bard Academy. There are some scares; nothing overly graphic, but more than enough to keep you reading until you find the answers. I’m hoping for lots more in this entertaining series.

January 2007
ISBN# 978-1-4165-2490-8 (paperback)