Before Wings

Fifteen-year-old Adrien barely survived a brain aneurysm two years earlier, and is haunted by the fact that she could die from another one at any time. In fact, issues of life and death completely fill her world at Camp Lakeshore, owned and operated by her Aunt Erin, a woman with a haunted past of her own. Adrien bonds with Paul, a teen who is convinced that he has dreamt of his own death and that it will happen on his next birthday. She also seems to be experiencing events in the lives of five girls, a group of campers who died long ago in a tragic accident. Anyone who ever spent time at a summer camp will recognize Camp Lakeshore, with its bad T-shirts, cliques, bullies, and time-honored rituals. Adrien is a sympathetic and believable character: intelligent, stubborn, funny, filled with confusion and doubt, but ultimately open to the possibility that she just might have a future after all. This could have been a terribly bleak and depressing book, but it isn't. Its engaging characters, realistic setting, and upbeat ending will satisfy teen readers.