Booktalks Quick and Simple

	Nixon, Joan Lowry NIGHTMARE New York : Delacorte Press, 2003 IL YA ISBN 0385901518 (2 booktalks)
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews	CAMP EXCEL! Great! Just what Emily needed. Just because she wasn't an overachiever like her valedictorian older sisters, she was labeled an underachiever. She didn't mind the label if it helped her disappear in crowds and classrooms. She just didn't like the limelight. But, because of her older sisters, she was now forced into this "marvelous summer program to help underachievers learn to do their best." Talk about parents pressuring their children. Why did she have to live up to their expectations anyway? Then they mentioned the Foxworth-Isaacson Educational Center in Dallas and Emily felt a horrible fear rush through her body. She had no recognition of the name, so why did it affect her so? It was almost as bad as the nightmare. The nightmare that always ended with her seeing the body lying half in the water, eyes wide in horror and mouth opened in a scream. Was there a connection? Would she finally understand why she had the nightmare? Or would something happen to her before she understood what was going on? Sam Marsh 3/2004 (From Booktalking Colorado, http://booktalkingcolorado.ppld.org) Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2006-2007 Booktalk #2 It is always very late, and a thin moon is unable to light the sky. The darkness is smothering, and the summer heat is thick and heavy. Emily struggles to get through a tangle of damp vines., pulling at her arms and legs with wet clinging rotting leaves. She gasps for air as she climbed toward the opening, terrified at what she knew was coming. She stared into the eyes of the pale bloody face. Emily sat up in bed sweating, shaking, that horrible face indelibly imprinted on her mind. Emily took a few deep breaths, willing her heartbeat to slow. No one had come running and she hadn't awakened her roommate, Haley. So the scream must have only been in her dreams. Emily fell back to sleep. I made time to scout out this part of the campgrounds and came across a spot that is totally hidden from anyone on the path. At the time I discovered it I had no idea that it would become useful for stalking Emily Wood. When I spoke to her this evening, I searched her eyes and found no recognition there. She hasn't responded to my name or my face. So why do I consider her a threat? Because I do not know how much Emily remembers. She's standing alone at the end of the dock. It's rocky there and deep. There's a possibility that she could fall into the lake and not come up. An accident. No one would think otherwise. Then the worry of what she might say or do would cease to exist. But is it necessary? I don't know yet. No, not yet, something tells me not yet. I must bide my time. Wait and watch. I'll need more information before I decide what to do about Emily Wood. Camp Excel. Summer Camp! Someone is stalking Emily and she doesn't even know. (From Booktalking Colorado, http://booktalkingcolorado.ppld.org) Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2006-2007
	SUBJECTS: Camps -- Fiction. Murder -- Fiction. Nightmares -- Fiction. Mystery and detective stories.

CAMP EXCEL! Great! Just what Emily needed. Just because she wasn't an overachiever like her valedictorian older sisters, she was labeled an underachiever. She didn't mind the label if it helped her disappear in crowds and classrooms. She just didn't like the limelight. But, because of her older sisters, she was now forced into this "marvelous summer program to help underachievers learn to do their best." Talk about parents pressuring their children. Why did she have to live up to their expectations anyway? Then they mentioned the Foxworth-Isaacson Educational Center in Dallas and Emily felt a horrible fear rush through her body. She had no recognition of the name, so why did it affect her so? It was almost as bad as the nightmare. The nightmare that always ended with her seeing the body lying half in the water, eyes wide in horror and mouth opened in a scream. Was there a connection? Would she finally understand why she had the nightmare? Or would something happen to her before she understood what was going on? Sam Marsh 3/2004 (From Booktalking Colorado, http://booktalkingcolorado.ppld.org) Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2006-2007

Booktalk #2

It is always very late, and a thin moon is unable to light the sky. The darkness is smothering, and the summer heat is thick and heavy. Emily struggles to get through a tangle of damp vines., pulling at her arms and legs with wet clinging rotting leaves. She gasps for air as she climbed toward the opening, terrified at what she knew was coming. She stared into the eyes of the pale bloody face. Emily sat up in bed sweating, shaking, that horrible face indelibly imprinted on her mind. Emily took a few deep breaths, willing her heartbeat to slow. No one had come running and she hadn't awakened her roommate, Haley. So the scream must have only been in her dreams. Emily fell back to sleep. I made time to scout out this part of the campgrounds and came across a spot that is totally hidden from anyone on the path. At the time I discovered it I had no idea that it would become useful for stalking Emily Wood. When I spoke to her this evening, I searched her eyes and found no recognition there. She hasn't responded to my name or my face. So why do I consider her a threat? Because I do not know how much Emily remembers. She's standing alone at the end of the dock. It's rocky there and deep. There's a possibility that she could fall into the lake and not come up. An accident. No one would think otherwise. Then the worry of what she might say or do would cease to exist. But is it necessary? I don't know yet. No, not yet, something tells me not yet. I must bide my time. Wait and watch. I'll need more information before I decide what to do about Emily Wood. Camp Excel. Summer Camp! Someone is stalking Emily and she doesn't even know. (From Booktalking Colorado, http://booktalkingcolorado.ppld.org) Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2006-2007