Applegate, Anne. The Last Academy.

Applegate, Anne.  The Last Academy.  Scholastic Press/Point 2013  316p  ISBN 978-0-545-50204-7        jr/sr   Hardback  VG-BN  Mystery

Generally content to leave the spotlight to her best friend, Cam does the first truly daring thing of her life by applying to and being accepted by a prestigious private school in California that will take her far from the town where she grew up. Her trip gets off to a rocky start when she and her best friend have a horrible fight and Cam ends up leaving without saying goodbye. Things at the new school are very different, and not just because she has never attended a private school before. There's something about the students themselves that is unusual, not to mention the creepy man whose presence seems to precede students' disappearances. As Cam and her new friends begin to look into the disappearances, all of them find themselves experiencing things that are nothing like normal, leading up to a startling discovery that each student at the academy, including Cam, must make for him- or herself. Although the premise seems tired and derivative, the twist at the end is one only a few readers will see coming, and it makes the book worth the read. Teen readers who are fans of paranormal romance, private-school romance, or paranormal private-school romance will devour this book, as it nestles comfortably alongside others in its genre.  The cover and title will draw them in, and the unique protagonist, who is (refreshingly) at the very center of the action only rarely, will probably be more realistic and relatable to readers than the usual girl who is always on her own yet somehow leading revolutions, blazing trails, and defying authority figures left and right.          

Public libraries with young-adult collections will find that this book will circulate regularly for as long as paranormal romances and private-school romances remain popular. 

Summary: Cam goes away to private school, leaving many things unsaid to her friends and family back home, but she soon finds herself entangled in a sinister mystery at her new school that may reveal things better not brought to light.    

Paranormal – Fiction, School stories                        --Bethany Geleskie