Author last name, first name. (Year). Title. Publisher: City. Werlin, Nancy. (1998). The killers cousin.

Delacorte Press: New York, NY. Genre: Mystery/Realistic Reading Level: Ages 14 and up. Interest Level: Ages 14 and up, including adults. Plot Summary: David Yaffe is driving to Cambridge to live with his aunt and uncle. He has just been acquitted for the murder of his girlfriend, and needs to repeat his senior year to finish high school. His family felt that a change of scenery at a rigorous private school will keep him from being distracted. During the drive it is apparent from his refusal to think about the events surrounding the trial and his girlfriends death that he is still guilt -ridden by the events. He arrives to find an awkward welcome. His uncle Vic is there to greet him and is cordial, but his Aunt Julia refuses to see him for the first couple of days, and his cousin Lily is openly hostile, asking him if he felt powerful when he killed Emily. David is chilled by the bizarre reception but resolves to focus on school. He is put in the attic room, the same room where his cousin Kathy committed suicide four years prior. He occasionally sees humanoid shadows and hears noises, which alarm him. Is it stress? Something else? His relatives live on the second floor, and a college aged woman named Raina lives on the ground floor. His time at school is beneficial, though he keeps a low profile, signing up and then never showing up for cross country. One of his classmates dresses like a skinhead, Frank Delgado, and David is impressed by his nonchalance and intelligence. Through a couple of encounters they start to slowly develop a light friendship. Things eventually warm up between him and his relatives, and that Thanksgiving when his parents come to visit David inadvertently solves his aunt and uncles communication problem, which upsets Lily, who has acted as a go between for a very long time. Though she appears to be a good child in front of her parents, Lilys bitterness only becomes stronger as she begins to disrupt Davids room. Meanwhile David meets Raina and though his lingering feelings for Emily are an obstacle, they begin dating, or at least going out alone often. Through his conversations with Frank and Raina, as well as his own internal dialogue, it is revealed that he did in fact kill Emily, but it was an accident, a single punch that hit the wrong target. His continuing guerrilla war with Lily leaves him stressed and strained, the images and noises becoming more frequent. Her actions damage his computer, damage his relationship with Raina, and almost evict him. He tries to convince Vic that its her doing, but their trust in her compared to his crumbling appearance of sanity mean that his aunt and uncle dont believe him. At one point he has a dream of Kathy telling him to help Lily. He wants to, even if she has been antagonistic, but does not know how. After encountering an old scrapbook with pictures of Kathy inside, he starts

to piece together why Lily has been so hostile, and comes to the conclusion that Kathy did not commit suicide; she was killed by Lily because of her jealousy. He knows he cant prove it, but he confronts Lily about it, and she admits to doing it, admits she didnt think it would work. This doesnt help their relationship, and Lilys continuing disruptions of his room leads to him breaking down and tearing his room apart looking for something wrong. His aunt and uncle find him like this, and evict him. His father comes to get him and before the flight out, David goes running and finds himself passing by his aunt and uncles house. To his surprise it is burning. He looks for Lily but cant find her and heedless of the danger he rushes into the house. He finds Lily sitting in the bathtub Kathy died in, waiting for the fire to consume her. He rescues her, and through their brief conversation in the house discovers that what she was really after was sympathy, someone who understood what it meant to be a killer, and could help her figure out how she should live knowing what she had done. He wakes up in the hospital to find his parents have made the choice to move to Cambridge so he can finish school, and that his aunt and uncle blame him for the fire. The book concludes with David in a better place about his past, and a better place for him to help his cousin grow. Critique: Its been a long time since Ive seen an author pull off a false climax. Every piece of the puzzle led to the conclusion that Lily had killed Kathy, but it the fire and Lilys true motives were a pleasant surprise as a reader. The use of a killer to solve the mystery of a different murder was an interesting choice, and the allusions to the detective work of Fox Mulder from X-files were a nice touch. All in all the rules of a Mystery novel were followed. Furthermore Davids inner dialog, and the way it was written made understanding David a very easy prospect. The first person narration helped too. Social and Cultural Imagery: David Yaffe is a Jewish, heterosexual man from a wealthy, upper class background. The majority of the story takes place in the city of Cambridge, MA in a mixture of suburban and urban environments. Both Lily and David are presented as sympathetic characters, neither wholly good nor bad. Frank Delgados role in the story seems to act as a reminder against making judgments of people based off of surface information such as appearance or rumor. Teenage sexuality is handled by the protagonist without much ceremony, though the reaction of authority figures seems to paint their beliefs in a negative light. The negative impact of the media covering stories in a sensational way come up several times. Davids Jewish heritage is presented in a mostly neutral way, occasionally with positive overtones. David and Lilys struggle with their pasts show that with help and effort, things can get better even after committing some of the worst crimes. Curriculum Uses: Story structure analysis of plot progression and false climax. Discussion of crime and punishment, guilt and innocence. Analysis of what makes a good mystery novel. Guided reading for YA students. Discussion of the role of the media in the publics understanding of events.