Bibliography:
Myracle, Lauren. September 2008. Bliss. New York: Harry Abrams. ISBN: 9780810970717
Plot Summary:
Bliss Inthemorningdew’s hippie parents have taken her off the commune and dropped her at her ever-so proper grandmother’s house on their way to Canada to protest the war in Vietnam. She hates to admit it, but television and warm showers and real soap are things she realizes that she likes. Attending an exclusive private school, complete with cliques, outcasts, and weird voices only she can hear? Maybe not as much. This is a story about true friends, false friends, first love and girls who will do anything to be popular.
Critical Analysis:
I may not be the best judge of what makes a good horror book. I have never been one to be scared of bloody or gory movies. I find things in the realm of the possible much scarier than things that could never be. That being said, there is a real creepy vibe to Bliss. It feels like Mean Girls meets Carrie meets Heathers or maybe The Craft. And I make those comparisions deliberately, because the author’s use of black pages between the chapters feels like the part of a movie between scenes. Fade to black… It is quite effective actually for moving the book forward. The quotes on those black pages are almost as creepy as the story itself (and most of them from the Andy Griffith Show, no less). The mysterious diary pages start to creep in and up the tension. Through it all is a portrayal of the times–the war, segregation in schools, Charles Manson murder spree and trial.
Normally, when I review a book like this, I think about it from the teen perspective. Will teens like this? I think so, the naive girl at a new school trying to navigate cliques and crushes will appeal to many, as will the awesome cover. Chances are this book will jump off the shelf all by itself (now that would be creepy…) However, when I finished this book, I was left with a lot of “adult” thoughts about it. Many, many reviewers and librarians are going to read this and say how great it is that there is real horror being written for teens these days. Whereas I read it and thought how ingenious, Myracle has shown how horrorifying high school and cliques and trying to be popular really are, by taking the popularity contest and making it sinister, and by contrasting the weird events at the school the weird events in the greater world. Which is more horrifying? Charles Manson or doing anything to be popular? Race issues or being everyone’s best friend? But I am afraid, that like great YA writers who couch their issues in humor and wit, she and Bliss may be dismissed as just another horror story. Which would be a shame.
Connections:
- Pair this with Carrie by Stephen King and Tribes by Arthur Slade
- Watch the movies Carrie, Heathers, or Mean Girls
