Rgz Street Team: Priya Reviews Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart

The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.

Today, Priya reviews Dangerous Neighbors by one of our esteemed authors in residence, Beth Kephart!

"Katherine and Anna are two peas in a pod, two sisters that are so close together than only death can really tear them apart. After Anna's tragic death, Katherine is so filled with sorrow, anger, and guilt that her desire to live fades away; it takes a series of surprises and near-disasters for Katherine to find her way. As we ride through Katherine's memories and current life, the story of her and Anna is slowly unraveled, until the thing that we've all been dying (pardon the pun) to know about is finally revealed.

Dangerous Neighbors is a quietly powerful and poignant novel that kept me enthralled the whole time. It's a lot shorter than I expected it to be - only 166 pages - but I feel that its brevity only enriched the story. Once again, the main thing that stands out in this novel - and all of Beth Kephart's novels - is the writing. All of the words were so deliberately picked, the descriptions were like poetry, and awkward phrases were nonexistent. Kephart can put things into words that the rest of us cannot, and in such a beautiful and touching way as well..."

Read the rest of this review on Priya's blog. (And read the story behind that gorgeous cover here!)

Circle of Stars Release: Beth Kephart

This note just in from our former A.I.R., Beth Kephart. Celebrate her new release! Woot!



Yesterday afternoon, the first copies of Dangerous Neighbors (Laura Geringer Books: Egmont USA), my twelfth book, made their way to my home. A story about twin sisters set against Centennial Philadelphia, this book was inspired both by my work on Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River and by my ongoing love affair with what I’ve always called “my” city.

Dangerous Neighbors takes readers into the world of 1876 Philadelphia—onto the Centennial grounds, onto the ice of the Schuylkill River, up the slopes of Laurel Hill, beneath the chandelier of the Academy of Music, through Rittenhouse Square, and down Walnut Street. It takes readers to Cape May at the height of clamming season and into worlds—Shantytown, Operti’s opera house, and the Colosseum—that no longer exist.

Momentum has been building, and early reviewers have been kind. Kirkus offered these words: “... A tender, quiet work of historical fiction...exquisitely crafted...as lovely in its imagery as it is tragic.” Ed Goldberg, meanwhile, in his five-star review for YA Books Central, wrote: “... Dangerous Neighbors is about more than feeling the loss of a sister. It is about sisters, especially twin sisters, and how they are a part of each other. It is about the inevitable maturing and ultimate growing apart of siblings. It is about the world in 1876 and one parent’s fight for equality. It is about having someone to care for and how that spark of caring can change everything.”

A brief excerpt from the book can be found here, at my newly revamped and expanded blog: http://beth-kephart.blogspot.com/2010/07/dangerous-neighbors-reading.html

I look forward to sharing this book with you.

All my best,
Beth