Shadowland (The Mediator, Book 1)
By Meg Cabot

Copyright © 2000
Publisher: HarperTeen (December 28, 2004)
$7.99 Paperback
$4.99 Kindle
304 pages

ISBN: 978-0060725112

Right off the bat, I'll 'fess up - I've come to the Meg Cabot party a little late. Meg started writing her young adult novels after I had already passed through that stage of my life and in fact after I had written my first young adult novel. After taking a too long break from writing, I am back to it and forging ahead, and along with that, I am reading more than ever. I knew I wanted to read some of Meg Cabot's work, but didn't want to start with the Princess Diaries series as it was ten books in length, and knowing me, I would have to read them all one right after the other and I had a book of my own to write. So, I started in November last year with the Heather Wells Mystery series (I have read all three currently available, but have only written the one review for Size 12 is Not Fat so far). Then in July while I was waiting for some feedback on my completed novel, through (at)compelledtoread on Twitter, I was led to her post about the Mediator series by Meg Cabot. The description of the series captured me, so I grabbed my Kindle and downloaded a sample of the first book in the series Shadowland.

To say I consumed this series would almost be an understatement. As soon as I completed one book, I downloaded the next and continued to read. Bless the ease and accessibility of Kindle to more reading material and thanks to Meg for having the books available in Kindle format so I didn't have to go to the bookstore or wait for a delivery. Sometimes instant gratification can be wonderful.

We meet sixteen year old Suze Simon (short for Susannah) as she arrives in Carmel, California from New York City to move in with her mother, new stepfather, and three stepbrothers. She's been living with her grandmother for the last six months since her mother married Andy because there was no space available at Mission Academy for her to attend school. Suze, who doesn't let anyone except her mom call her Susie, is trying to make the best of it, but is not really excited to be leaving her friends, well, friend Gina, to move in with a new family in a strange new place, but wants to make her mom happy. She is distressed to learn that not only is the school she will be attending old, but her new house was built in 1849, and Suze doesn't like old buildings. This may seem like a really strange dislike until you realize the reason Suze doesn't like old buildings is that they are much likely to contain other things that are old, like old ghosts. And while in many ways, Suze is a normal, angsty, maladjusted teenager, the thing which sets her apart is she can see and talk to ghosts.

To cap things off, the first thing she runs into in the new house, in her room of all places, is Jesse, a ghost who has been living in the house, in her room, since the mid-1800's and refuses to leave. When Suze starts Mission Academy, a catholic school, she is less than thrilled to almost immediately run into a ghost. It is the ghost of a girl who committed suicide and is the reason the vacancy opened up for Suze to attend school. What is mind blowing to Suze is she is not the only person who can see this particular ghost. Father Dominic, the principal of Mission Academy, is a mediator just like Suze. They are both shocked to find someone else with their gift, or as Suze sometimes thinks - curse. Father Dominic considers this to be a fortuitous sign and decides he must tutor Suze on the proper mediation methods, as Suze tends to mediate a little after the fashion of Rambo, striking first and asking questions later. As mediators, it is their job to help the ghost determine why they are still on this earth and help them pass on into the next life. Suze has found getting physical from time to time with the ghost in question is sometimes necessary, because it comes as a shock to them that she can actually touch them, and her punches hurt.

One of the true powers of Cabot's writing is her ability to draw the reader into the story. Her characters are penned with authority, and they are quirky, yet lovable, even though sometimes a little prickly. We, the reader, can identify with Suze Simon as she worries about the minutiae of normal teenage girl life - how to fit in at a new school, boys, how to make friends, boys, clothes, boys, etc. We've all been there, or are there. Suze makes some poor decisions, and learns to regret some of her choices, but the teenager within understands why those choices were made. The writer in me pays homage to the power of Cabot's pen. Meg you rock.

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LK Gardner-Griffie
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