When Calla's mother dies, she goes to live with her grandmother in the town of Lily Dale. Calla doesn't understand the strange people who inhabit Lily Dale until her grandmother confesses that Lily Dale is the home of psychics and other mystics and that she is one of them. Calla thinks her grandmother has gone off the deep end until strange things begin to happen. Calla starts to wonder if she might be psychic just like her grandmother. She begins to question the life she lived with her mother and consider that her mother may have lied to her about much of her past. This is the first book of the Lily Dale series. I picked this book up in the clearance section of at Half Price Books and quickly realized what a bargain I had gotten. This is a wonderful book with a little bit of danger, romance, and adventure all rolled into one exciting book. ( )

After reading the Hunger Games trilogy and some other really well written YA lit, I'm finding I compare the new stuff I read with the good stuff. Everything I read now must reach expectations I have set for it based on what I've read previously. It's unfair, I guess, but good writing is out there.

Once in awhile I'm going to run into some not-so-great writing. Wendy Corsi Staub isn't a bad writer, but she's not fantastic either. Her characters don't have a lot of depth. The story is formed but formulaic. Heck, even "Twilight" is better written than "Awakening". Even though the main character is a junior in high school, her voice seems more junior high, even middle school at times. I don't think this book was written with high school kids in mind. And that's where I have problems.

What exactly is Young Adult fiction? I wish it would be a more defined genre because I probably wouldn't have read this book if I had known how much younger the voice was written in.

The story isn't bad, at least the bones of it isn't bad. But I'd like to see a better writer flesh out the characters more, not drag out the suspense on certain things, etc. It seems as if the book was written in a rush. It's a serial story but even then Corsi Staub didn't need to rush. She could have added another hundred pages for us to really get to know the characters, to learn the back-story in more detail.

This reads more like one of those elementary school "chapter books" than it does a young adult novel. I only give it 3 stars because the topic is interesting to me. ( )

When Calla's mother dies, she goes to live with her grandmother in the town of Lily Dale. Calla doesn't understand the strange people who inhabit Lily Dale until her grandmother confesses that Lily Dale is the home of psychics and other mystics and that she is one of them. Calla thinks her grandmother has gone off the deep end until strange things begin to happen. Calla starts to wonder if she might be psychic just like her grandmother. She begins to question the life she lived with her mother and consider that her mother may have lied to her about much of her past. This is the first book of the Lily Dale series. I picked this book up in the clearance section of at Half Price Books and quickly realized what a bargain I had gotten. This is a wonderful book with a little bit of danger, romance, and adventure all rolled into one exciting book. ( )

Big Kid Reaction: About halfway through book one - which the author donated to the Reading Tub - I ordered the rest of the series for my personal library. The five books, which all-told cover about one year of Calla's life, were devoured in a week. The story is a set of tightly woven subplots about relationships: mother and daughter; father and daughter; friends and boy friends; and how they connect to our past and our present, as well as guide our future.

Calla is the main character, but her grandmother Odelia is what makes the story work. Throughout the story, Calla faces questions about what her life will be like without her mom. As she begins to unravel her mom's history she is drawn to Odelia as a connection to her mom, but also as someone who might help her understand what is happening and how to reach her.

Pros: This book has everything a teen (boy or girl) could eant: fast pace, mystery, characters going through what they're going through, and realism.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

Following her mother's death, Calla Delaney goes to visit the grandmother she barely knows in the small town of Lily Dale. She soon learns that her grandmother is a psychic in a town of psychics. How could her mother never have mentioned that? Well, it is only three weeks. She can handle it for three weeks. But soon Calla begins to understand that her gammy is not the only psychic in the house.

I really enjoyed this young adult paranormal mystery. Calla is a typical teen, but one who has had a terrible experience that she needs to face and resolve. Her grandmother, Odelia, is a hoot. This is a very entertaining read. The writing is simple but good. I felt I was in the town. Heck, I want to move in with Odelia myself. Looking forward to the next book. ( )