Bet Your Life

Gr 9 Up—In this second Jess Tennant mystery, it's Halloween and the brutal beating of a fellow student has Jess playing sleuth again. Though the altercation nearly killed Seb Dawson, Jess is hard-pressed to find someone who's actually broken up about it. Most students, and even Seb's stepmother, believe he had it coming due to his not-so-funny mean pranks and nicknames, but Jess takes the case anyway as a favor to his younger half-sister. What she finds is evidence of a wealthy bully with a trail of girls and women alike who count themselves victims of Seb's blackmail. She's all but confirmed her suspicions about who's to blame for Seb's head trauma when she finds herself fighting for her life. A near-death-by-fire encounter brings her and policeman Dan Henderson, her ex-boyfriend's father, closer and also complicates her personal life with on-again-off-again boyfriend Will. And just when she thought she was finally settling into Port Sentinel, her absentee father decides to move to town to woo her mother back post-divorce, guaranteeing a sequel. Casey has really grown into writing for teens with this second installment. The characterization is better, and the coverage of the party scene, and the fashion commentary were all well done. The balance between the mystery and Jess's complicated love life add to the intriguing stories of the many secondary characters make this a worthy purchase for school and public libraries.—Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH