Endangered

Gr 9 Up—Lauren "Panda" Daniels likes to blend in. No one notices her, or suspects that she is responsible for the immensely popular anonymous photoblog that catches people from her high school in compromising positions. The teen considers herself "karma personified." When an online secret admirer discovers her identity, Lauren is scared she will be busted. Instead, her admirer expresses an interest in photography and challenges Lauren to "top" a magnificent photograph. Lauren is intrigued, until the subject of her latest post is killed and her admirer emails Lauren a picture of the dead body. Lauren realizes that she may have to own up to her blog, face its ugly aftermath, and cooperate with the boy who ruined her high school life to prevent more deaths and catch a killer. Giles's protagonist undertakes high-intensity, dangerous endeavors in a contemporary-realistic setting, but (refreshingly) does not escape very real, personal consequences. There is also some skillful character development in this book, as many of the assumptions that Lauren introduces in the beginning are slowly deconstructed and examined over the course of the story. Mei delivers a harsh wake-up call to Lauren about her habit of constant playful teasing, and how she uses it as "camouflage" so no one will suspect her blogger-identity. Overall this book is a dynamic, dangerously suspenseful, contemporary adventure that also leaves room for introspective soul-searching.—Sara White, Seminole County Public Library, Casselberry, FL