Clarity by Kim Harrington - book review

Reviewer’s Name:  Klaudia Janek

School:  International Academy

Author (Last name first):  Harrington, Kim

Title of the Book: Clarity

Publisher:  Point and imprint of Scholastic

Date of Publication:  2011 ISBN# 978-0-545-23050-6

Price:  $16.99        Grade Level: S (Grades 9-12)     Number of Pages: 242

VOYA Rating: 4Q4P

Highly Recommended   

Clarity “Clare” Fern has psychic powers that make her an outcast in town, but she helps to support her family with her gifts.  Clare’s brother is a medium and Clare’s mom is a telepath.  The three of them run a business that provide readings to the tourists in their Cape Cod town.  Because of her supernatural powers, Clare has been the victim of bullying for most of her life.  As she has gotten older, boys have started noticing her because she is beautiful.  The town they live in is normally quiet, but then a murder occurs.  Because the victim has been associated with Clare’s brother, Perry, he is a suspect in the investigation.  Clare believes her brother is innocent and agrees to help with the case.  She is paired with her ex-boyfriend and a hot new boy in town, who happens to be the police chief’s son.  Things are tense with the ex-boyfriend, Justin and Clare is sure that once Gabriel, the hot guy, learns about her powers, he will not be interested in her.  They try to put their differences aside, to help solve the murder.  Strange things begin to happen in town and Clare gets closer to solving the crime.

This is a great book for readers who love mysteries.  The humor in the book made for some lighthearted parts. The story is narrated by Clare, so you get her point of view on events.  It was a fast paced read and the action did not really slow down until the end.  The murder is solved by the end of the story.  The reader will get a glimpse of what is to come in the next book.  This is definitely a fun book to escape into for a while.  I would recommend this book to older readers because some of the content is a little graphic.  The details of the murder, Perry sleeping with a lot of girls, and a description of sex make this inappropriate for some younger readers.  I think this would be a good purchase for most high school libraries and public libraries.  It’s a good recommendation to readers of YA mysteries.  I also think it has pretty broad appeal because of the popularity of supernatural fiction right now.  Once you start reading, you won’t want to put it down.


Here is the author's blog: http://kimharrington.blogspot.com/

The publisher made a great book trailer!