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THE AMANDA PROJECT by Stella Lennon

THE AMANDA PROJECT

Invisible I

by Stella Lennon

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-174212-5
Publisher: HarperTeen

According to popular Callie, Amanda Valentino was a quirky math genius who lived in a pretty, Victorian house. When Amanda disappears, however, Callie learns that Amanda was a friend to two estranged classmates, Nia and Hal, both of whom believe completely different things about her, and the three work together to discover what’s happened. This illustrated series opener invites readers to interact with the text and solve the mystery along with Callie, while the related website, amandaproject.com, provides subtle and not-so-subtle encouragement for readers to spend time and money with its business partners (one quiz reveals what stores participants might be, among other things). The author—Melissa Kantor, one of several writers using the Stella Lennon nom de plume—works in some side plots about Callie’s missing mother and a terrible secret concerning a disfigured classmate. The ending has no resolutions for any of the story lines, which bodes well for the series but not for frustrated readers who have sat through 300 pages to get there—but they can play at the website, right? A baldly predatory attempt to get into teens’ wallets. (Mystery. 14 & up)