Series Spotlight: The Mediator
Yup, I'm going with the oldie but goodie--which was another topic idea, so I guess those two ideas get combined? Lol!
One of my all time favorite series I discovered in my younger days was The Mediator series by Meg Cabot/Jenny Carroll. She wrote the first four under a pen name so that The Princess Diaries fans wouldn't be overly upset with a paranormal book instead of the contemporary lifestyles of a princess. It wasn't until book 5 that she wrote under her real name. I remember it threw me off when I discovered it because when I saw this beautiful book that was literally titled HAUNTED, I thought, ooh that sounds like a good ghost story! And then I saw the subtitle: A Tale of the Mediator, and thought, oh, like Jenny Carroll's Susannah! I know what that is!
And it was while I was reading the description that I discovered that Jenny and meg were one in the same! I don't think at that time I really grasped pen names, I was a newbie reader and I didn't know who used then and such.
The absolute best way I can describe this series is Veronica Mars with Ghosts! And this was before Veronica Mars even! Susannah just had that same snarky attitude that Veronica did. Except, instead of a knack for solving mysteries and whatnot, Susannah is able to see ghosts. She's the mediator between the living and the dead. She tries not to get involved with ghostly matters, but ends up being sucked into things more often than not.
After her mother moves her to Sunny California when she remarries, Susannah also discovers her bedroom is already occupied by a ghost. A very hot looking ghost. Her new school is also being haunted by another ghost, a very angry one too.
The course of the series has Susannah trying to get through high school and survive, but there's many ghostly encounters along the way. The series came to its YA end with a rather unique twist. I still can't quite remember how that part happened, it would require an entire series re-read which I doubt I'll ever have time for. Then 10 years after it ended, Meg wrote ANOTHER one! An ADULT installment!
Honestly, a YA author continuing her YA series with an adult finale was just a very unique way to go! I loved that Meg did this and it brought a greater end to the series. There were a few little loose ends at the time that were seamlessly wrapped up in this final installment. Though I would have loved for more, it did end there. What was great about this final book was that it was kind of like the Veronica Mars movie where everyone comes back together 10 years later! It was amazing how a book that predated a beloved show was so similar to it in some ways.
Oddly, I still remember my buying this last book was where I had a credit card fiasco and had my number stolen. It got resolved eventually, but ack, that was not a fun time. Especially since I had done the right thing and called to pay for my book because something within the bookstore's system didn't charge me for the book, I double and triple checked my credit card statement and nothing was there, so I called and paid for it manually over the phone. A few days later, I was hacked.
All in all, I have good memories over this series. It was the YA Paranormal series I had been looking for in a paranormal-less world.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are an award all on their own! So my blog is an award free one! Thanks for any consideration though!