Informationen zum Autor Delilah S. Dawson Klappentext "Bullied and lonely, Parker Nelson is excited to make a new friend at camp, but then bad, unexplainable things start happening to Parker's tormenters, and she soon discovers that her new friend might not be so friendly--or human--after all"-- Leseprobe 1. Finally­finally!­all of Parker Nelson's dreams were coming true. The 102 on today's math test hadn't been a surprise, but getting paired up with the Cassandra DiVecchio for the big Language Arts project and then invited to her house to work on it? That was a huge score. Parker didn't need any help with the project­she was the biggest poetry nerd in her class and already had ideas­but she had been trying to break into the popular clique since kindergarten. Okay, maybe that was an understatement. Parker had been trying to break into any friend group ever since people started declaring their besties and inviting each other to slumber parties. She'd lived in the same house in the same town her entire life, gone to the same schools with the same kids, and yet it felt as if all of the friend groups had been established without her knowledge, as if there were no seats left in the musical chairs of friendship. Sure, she could get a little braggy about her grades and had been told by several adults that she had a tendency to talk too much, too fast, mostly about herself, and not really give other kids a chance to say anything. And, yes, she was proud to be a teacher's pet and loved to spout weird facts whenever she could. But she thought she was, in general, a good person who would make a great friend, and she was trying harder to fit in. So far, she hadn't been able to crack the code, but she'd really been studying Cassandra and her crew and was starting to see where she'd been going wrong. After a trip to the outlet mall for new sneakers and her first attempt at eyeliner after multiple YouTube tutorials, Parker felt as ready as she'd ever be. Her mom watched anxiously from the car as Parker hitched her backpack up on her shoulder­the cool kids never wore both straps­and walked up the curved stone sidewalk to Cassandra's house, or maybe mansion would be a better word. The house was so tall and white that it was almost blinding, and Parker wondered what it would be like to pack up everything she owned and pull up to a house like this, as Cassandra must have last year when she moved here from Tennessee and was immediately absorbed into KJ Worthington's highly selective lunch table, forming a trio along with KJ's second-­in-­command, Olivia Blanchard. Giddy, her stomach full of butterflies, Parker rang the doorbell and glanced back at her mom, motioning for her to leave. Her mom gave her a thumbs-­up, pointed at her cell phone, waved, and backed out of the driveway right as the big stained-­glass door opened to reveal the third most popular girl in seventh grade. Cassandra stood there looking a little uncertain, which was unusual for her. She had long, straight black hair and honey-­gold eyes, and everything about her was pretty much perfect. Her style was careless­a big sweatshirt and ragged jean shorts, like everybody wore­but somehow, on her, it looked effortless and cool. Oh, Cassandra said, looking Parker up and down. You look cute. The hour Parker had spent with the straightening iron and her mom's makeup drawer must've worked, to get a compliment like that. She was smiling so hard that her face hurt. Her sweatshirt was almost exactly the same as the one Cassandra wore, which had to be a sign. Thanks! I love your house. Come on in. You can leave your shoes here. My room's upstairs. Cassandra's house was decorated like something from a magazine or a movie, like someone had professionally tossed blankets around and karate-­chopped pillows right before Parker walked in. She left her shoes at t...

Autorentext

Delilah S. Dawson