Thomas, Erin. Haze.

Thomas, Erin.     Haze. Orca  175p  $9.95 978-1-4598-0070-0       ms/hs Series: Orca Sports     Good  Realistic Fiction

When Jeremy is injured the day after telling Bram about a death caused by hazing, Bram turns sleuth in an attempt to solve the mystery.      With its fast-moving plot and its easy-to-read format, Haze is a good choice for a student who wants to escape for a while.  It is set in a private school in Connecticut, where the rich can hide crimes with the snap of a finger, this story offers an interesting mystery to solve. 

Who killed Marcus Tam, or was it a tragic death caused by careless underage drinking?  At the gym one evening after swim practice, "wannabe" swimmer Bram hears an unbelievable story involving hazing at an initiation party for the members of the school’s swim team, as well as a possible cover-up.  Was the swim coach somehow involved in the hazing incident?  The day after Jeremy reveals his thoughts to Bram, he is hit by a car in a brutal hit and run!  Bram does not want to believe the coach is involved, but Jeremy’s sister Abby, who happens to be Bram’s former girlfriend, is convinced that he was somehow responsible for her brother’s accident.  Swimmers Steven and Nate try to intimidate Bram into backing off from investigating, and when this doesn’t work, they step up their game. 

This is an interesting premise, but unfortunately, there are gaps that are difficult to reconcile and characters’ roles that are underdeveloped.  For example, the reader might wonder how a 9th-grade student could figure out that the weights in a weight room could hide evidence that would help Bram figure out who was responsible for Tam’s death, but that is exactly what happens.  From that point on, there are a lot of unbelievable developments that might lead young readers to say, "Yeah, sure".  Nevertheless, the ending is dramatic, and the reader will be entertained.

There is a small grammatical error on page 71.  "He raised a hand to Droid and I..." should be "He raised a hand to Droid and me..."  "Me" is the object of the preposition "to".    

Mystery, Murder-Fiction, Swimming-Fiction       --Martha Squaresky