Moore, Carley. The Stalker Chronicles.

Moore, Carley.    The Stalker Chronicles.  Macmillan/Farrar Strauss     230p $16.99 978-0-374-37180-7       ms/hs       Good            Conflict   

We meet Cammie as a sophomore in high school, with flashbacks to elementary and middle school to set the premise of the novel that Cammie has always found direct verbal communication difficult. Instead, she secretly listens in on conversations of her family (her parents sound as if they will divorce) and clandestinely observes people who she would like to be friends with, and this behavior earns her the reputation of being a stalker.  She has only one true friend, Rosie, who tries to offer advice on how to better relate to people.  When a new boy moves to town, Cammie is compelled to go through his garbage, go into the boy’s bathroom to investigate, and through other means secretly learn about his past, which is shrouded in mystery.   Whether Cammie is just socially awkward or has a more serious mental disability is never fully explored.  This is a light read for middle-school and high-school students that will leave some questioning the total cluelessness of Cammie’s parents and whether Cammie’s transformation into a more popular person could really happen in such a short time.           

Stalking, Friendship-Fiction                          --Lois McNicol