Black Mirror

Publishers Weekly

The snowy prep school setting is the perfect backdrop for Werlin's (The Killer's Cousin) chilling and well-constructed mystery. Her narrator is a unique creation, a girl who begins to discover herself as she unravels a huge conspiracy. Frances Leventhal, half Jewish and half Japanese and confused about her identity, comes from a dysfunctional family: her father writes unpublishable science fiction and her mother has entered a Buddhist monastery in Osaka. Attending the elite Pettengill School only because of a scholarship, she has trouble connecting with anyone except a retarded groundskeeper and her art teacher. However, when her brother dies of a heroin overdose, Frances feels compelled to join the charitable organization that he was obsessed with. But something's not right about Unity Service nor with one of its student leaders, her brother's girlfriend Saskia, who's determined to keep her out. Frances's aptitude for art feels familiar, and her relationship with the groundskeeper, Andy, who's slow but true and calls her by her full name, is a bit too precious, but readers will empathize with Frances and her sense of alienation and longing. Even as Frances and Andy start to put the pieces together, Werlin continues to take readers through unexpected and exciting turns. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

The Killer's Cousin and Locked Inside are previous mysteries by Werlin, and Black Mirror will appeal to her many readers. This too is set at a private high school, where students are intelligent and sophisticated. The narrator, Frances Leventhal, begins her story with the suicide of her brother and its aftermath. She has always been a loner, retreating into her art, rather disgusted by her appearance. Her Japanese mother left the family some years before to retreat into the life of a monastery in Japan. Frances and her brother were estranged as he became more and more involved in school affairs, especially in the work of a charity organization named Unity Service. Frances cannot accept that he killed himself; she believes someone killed him and she thinks if she can force herself to join Unity Service she may find out why and how he was killed. To this end, she reaches out to some people, and is surprised by their reactions. In fact, there are many surprises as Frances discovers the truth about Unity Service and those connected to it. Readers may find Frances just too weird at first, seeing her through her own eyes as ugly and unlovable. But as she climbs out of her isolation she is revealed to herself and to others as someone who is creative and unique—and certainly capable. Her courage and the suspenseful climatic scenes will win over almost any mystery reader. One detail to mention: she finds a stash of marijuana her brother had hidden, and she smokes some joints experimentally, later flushing the dope down the toilet in disgust. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, Penguin Putnam, Dial, 249p., $16.99. Ages 13 to 18.Reviewer: Claire Rosser; September 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 5)

From The Critics

Frances, a scholarship student at a prestigious prep school, is plunged into a morass of confusion and intrigue after the apparent suicide of her only brother. To be part of what was important to her brother, she decides she should join the school's charitable club that was so integral a part of her brother's school life. At her first meeting, she feels prickly sensations signaling something is not right about this group. A mildly retarded groundskeeper is the only one she can turn to when she discovers the true nature of the organization, and questions whether her brother's death was a suicide or not. In this fast-paced mystery, Nancy Werlin once again keeps readers in suspense until the end of the book, and then offers a provocative surprise. Her willingness to delve into the human psyche, and share deep insights about human loneliness, fear, and self-acceptance give readers much more than a riveting novel. 2001, Dial, 249 pp.,
— Diana Mitchell

VOYA

Black Mirror is really for high school age students. It was hard to read because it was difficult to understand. I found it unbelievable that one major thing happens and everything changes. It does show that the way people act in person can be different from how they are inside. This book, like Werlin's others, makes you want to put it down but somehow you're still drawn to it. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P S (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Dial, 256p, $16.99. Ages 15 to 18. Reviewer: Kathleen Melohn, Teen Reviewer

Children's Literature

When her brother dies of an apparent self-induced heroin overdose, Frances Leventhal tries to understand a brother she thought she knew. Daniel was ten months older than Frances and they were in the same grade in school. Thanks to a scholarship program established by the Unity Foundation, Daniel and Frances attended the private Pettengill School. Daniel immediately became involved with Unity, a charitable organization. Frances, however, preferred to express herself through her paintings. Her self-consciousness kept her from making friends easily. The mirror draped in black for her brother's death becomes a symbol of Frances' not wanting to look inside herself, but also not seeing what was inside her brother. As Frances begins to delve into Daniel's activities, she discovers that the foundation is a front for drug dealing and she suspects that her brother was murdered. Werlin is adept at creating suspenseful moods and vivid settings. She has enough red herrings and twists in the plot to keep the reader involved. In fact, there is an interesting twist at the end where the murderer is identified. Peer pressure, the desire to belong and drug use are all central to the plot. 2001, Dial, $16.99. Ages 14 up. Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Werlin has written an intriguing story using subtle foreshadowing to build tension and create a sense of urgency while weaving a psychological study of a high school student who has no friends and little self-esteem. Abandoned by her mother and raised by an emotionally distant father, Frances, a teen of Japanese-Jewish descent, struggles to accept herself and cope with her brother's suicide. She recognizes that to come to grips with her guilt and grief, she must understand the reasons behind Daniel's tragic death. Daniel was actively involved with Unity, their private school's charitable organization, but Frances avoided it, even though it was responsible for both siblings' scholarships. She feels the need to carry on his work with Unity despite the unwillingness of the group to accept her. As time passes, she senses that things are not right; teachers, students, and the organization itself are not who they seem to be. What she uncovers puts her own life in danger and leads to some shocking truths about Daniel's life and death. Readers will relate to Frances's internal and external struggles as she tries to sort out the motives of the various characters with whom she comes in contact. Werlin has hit the jackpot with this well-written and masterfully developed novel. A can't-put-it-down mystery thriller.-Susan Geye, Crowley Ninth Grade Campus, TX Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

New England boarding-school junior Frances Leventhal endangers herself when she looks into her brother Daniel's suicide. As freshmen, Frances and Daniel received scholarships to Pettengill thanks to Unity, a charitable organization started by a recent alum. Daniel and other scholarship students volunteer for Unity, but Frances never wanted to. Shocked when Daniel dies of a heroin overdose, Frances realizes she didn't really know him and, in remorse, starts working for Unity. But the organization's lackluster food pantry, its arrogant leader, and strange conversations she overhears make Frances increasingly suspicious. She doesn't know whom to tell; her father, an unsuccessful writer, is emotionally distant, and her mother has returned to her native Japan to join a Buddhist monastery. Finally, Frances trusts a grounds worker who is slightly mentally retarded but steady and thoughtful. Meanwhile, Frances, who struggles with her Jewish/Japanese heritage and appearance, expresses her confusion and anger through art, which provides one of the themes: "If you think you already know what you're looking at, you might not see what's really there." Frances recognizes that she has been blind about herself and her brother, whose true personality emerges subtly through her memories of him. Although the confirmation of Frances's suspicions falls a bit flat, the story's twists keep the reader guessing from beginning to end. Werlin (Locked Inside, 2000, etc.) has once again excelled in combining a skillfully wrought plot with fully developed characters and rich themes. (Fiction. 12+)