100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Thirteen year-old Suzie Sarnio seems to be slowly wasting away, so thin that she can count every bone, everyone around her seems to think that she has an eating disorder.  When death comes knocking, Suzie is not surprised.  Suzie is brought to the School of Death, contracted to learn how to ferry souls onto the next world.  When Suzie gets to the schools, she learns that she has an even greater obstacle to face than suddenly being a Death, she is the only female Death to enter the School in one million years and the last female that trained as a Death, Lovethar, was brutally murdered.  With a hard road set before her, Suzie not only has to prove herself as a female death, but solve the mystery of the last female death.

Suzie is a wonderful protagonist for this unique middle-grade paranormal fantasy.  In a world of boys, Suzie holds her own and strives to prove herself.  She deals with bullying, exclusion, loneliness and extreme odds with courage and creativity. The mystery of Lovethar  was intriguing.  I wanted to know what happened to this one other brave woman in a men's world and her tragic demise.  I was really interested in the history of this in-between world, the war between the Deaths and the Dragons and the mysterious Elementals.  Suzie's new world is left in a state of transition at the end with questions left unanswered, so I am sure we'll be seeing more of Suzie in the future installments.