Abandon (Abandon Trilogy Series #1)

by Meg Cabot

Overview

New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

Pierce knows what it's like to die, because she's done it before. Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her.Now she's moved to a new town, but even here, he finds her. Pierce knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. If she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545284103
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	04/26/2011
Series:	Abandon , #1
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	770L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Meg Cabot's many series and books for adults, teens, and tweens have included multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers and have sold more than twenty-five million copies worldwide. Her Princess Diaries series has been published in more than thirty-eight countries and was made into two hit films by Disney. Meg also wrote the New York Times bestselling Mediator, Airhead, Insatiable, and Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series, as well as the award-winning novels All-American Girl and Avalon High. Meg lives in Key West with her husband and their cat. Visit Meg online at www.megcabot.com.

Hometown:

New York, New York

Place of Birth:

Bloomington, Indiana

Education:

B.A. in fine arts, Indiana University, 1991

Website:

http://www.megcabot.com

Read an Excerpt

From AbandonThe thing that stood out to me that day about that particular crypt—besides its age—was that its door had been secured by a number of chains. The gate, though ornate, was rusty, and even bent in places.But the chains were all brand new. So were the locks securing them. Someone seemed very concerned about break-ins. Break-ins. To an old crypt.It wasn’t until much later—until it was too late, actually—that I learned it wasn’t someone breaking in that had people concerned. They were worried about someone breaking out.

Editorial Reviews

The wildly rich and beautiful Pierce Oliviera died and came back to life—"I was flatline for over an hour." Ever since, her life has been exceedingly complicated. Two years after Pierce's near-death experience, the 17-year-old has been expelled from her posh Connecticut girls' school; her mother has moved them to the South Florida island of Isla Huesos; and Pierce must cope both with being the new girl and with a dark, handsome guy, who she met while she was dead and who won't leave her alone. While the fun premise and Pierce's irreverent voice are trademark Cabot, this novel has trouble getting off the ground. Cabot loosely hangs her story on the myth of Hades and Persephone, but the plot is hampered by confusing digressions and frequent jumps in time that make it difficult to pinpoint what's in the present and what's in the past. However, Cabot's avid fans—including devotees of her earlier forays into paranormal romance, as in the Mediator series—are likely to forgive the bumpy start to this planned trilogy. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Meg Cabot:“Cabot shows the dark side behind the bling-blingy superficial worlds.” —Teenreads.com"[The] strong, amusing voice, the plot twists, and the possibility of romance will draw mystery and chick-lit readers alike." —ALA Booklist “Bag the tiara and get out the gun ... Cabot delivers.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Gr 7–10—With this trilogy, loosely based on the Greek myth of Persephone, Cabot takes to the dark side. Pierce Oliviera, Abandon's troubled heroine, returns from the dead after an underworld deity romances her and gives her a rare diamond that anticipates danger. Despite this juicy premise, the book starts out a little slow, crowded with plot developments and foreboding. What follows Pierce's return to Earth is a nightmare. A friend commits suicide, a teacher is maimed, a jewelry store owner nearly dies from a heart attack, all of this told, not shown. Blaming herself for these tragedies, Pierce fails at school. Her mother, desperate for a new start, moves her to the place where she grew up: Isla Huesos, the island of bones. There, Pierce's Uncle Chris is newly released from prison. The cemetery where she first met the deity, John, is an easy bike ride away. And her father, a wealthy industrialist, has ruined the natural environment, including the birds his ex-wife studies and is trying to protect. Top that off with a group of preppies who defy school rules for a senior tradition called "coffin night." Cabot manages to keep this hodgepodge balanced, but the steamy relationship between Pierce and John is just starting. Of course, teens—especially restless fans of "Twilight"—will want to see what happens next. Stay tuned as readers are strung along for a wild, if not yet passionate, attention-grabber.—Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA

School Library Journal

In the current game of one-upsmanship that is the teen paranormal romance market, how does one top vampires, faeries, angels (fallen and otherwise) and the like? Why, make your dark and brooding male lead the Lord of Death, of course. Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera and her mother have just moved to Isla Huesos (an alternative Key West) to start over after her near-death experience two years earlier (she drowned in the backyard swimming pool) and her parents' subsequent breakup. But Isla Huesos just happens to be a portal to the Underworld, making it very easy for tall, dark and handsome John to monitor the girl who ran away from him at 15. She wants to live, darn it, and bad things always happen when he shows up, so why is she so unhappy when he takes back the magical necklace he gave her when she was dead? Cabot's a pro; Pierce is a perfectly likable if almost preternaturally good protagonist; her relationships with her ex-con uncle, underachieving cousin and new buddy Kayla are genuinely endearing, and her interactions with John have the right mix of humor and sexual chemistry. A refreshingly offhandedly gay cemetery sexton rather testily helps Pierce along the way. Ultimately, though, the conventions of the form leach real suspense from the plot, making it feel more like a progress to the inevitable sequel (Underworld, coming in the indefinable soon) than any real reboot of the genre. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews