Where to start! This 600-page realistic-sci-fi-horror Young Adult novel isn't like anything I've read before. It's basically a two-fer: High school senior Darcy has written a YA novel during NaNoWriMo, and it's been picked up by a major publisher. The advance for the novel and its sequel is big enough that she can take a year off - against her parents' wishes - move to New York, revise her novel, and write the sequel.
Told in alternate chapters that describe Darcy's experiences in New York and the development of the characters in her novel, Westerfield informs the audience about the YA publishing process and also spins a paranormal story in which Darcy's fictional character Lizzie comes to grips with the changes she experiences as a result of surviving a terrorist attack. She is able to see ghosts and move back and forth between the real world and an afterworld populated by themes from Indian death culture.
