Clarity by Kim Harrington

Clarity, the debut novel by author Kim Harrington, gives teen girls a great mix of romance, action, and suspense with a touch of the supernatural thrown in. I enjoyed this novel and look forward to more offerings from this author – I think that the characters in this book could support a series.


Summary: Clarity “Clare” Fern is used to being considered a freak in the Cape Cod tourist town where she lives with her mother & brother. They all have special abilities; Clare is a psychic who can touch an object and sense the thoughts and feelings attached to it. Her brother can communicate with ghosts. Her mom reads minds. They do readings together out of their Victorian house during the busy tourist season.

But this particular summer will not be the usual boring tourist season. A murderer is on the loose in Eastport and Clare has been asked to (unofficially) help work the case with the new police detective’s very handsome son, Gabriel, and her ex-boyfriend, Justin, whose Dad is running for re-election as mayor. As the bodies start to pile up and Clare’s brother, Perry, becomes the prime suspect, Clare finds herself torn between two very attractive guys who are distracting her from finding the real killer.

Add to all this a splash of high-school mean girl tormenting, snobby upper-crust townies, and another psychic competing for the tourists’ business, and the Fern family is in for a bumpy ride! Can Clare solve the case? It will take more than just her abilities to do so; fortunately she’s also got common-sense and a big heart.

For fans of the recent spate of supernatural mystery fiction for young adults, Clarity is a treat to be enjoyed. The characters are pretty well developed, and again I feel that a series centered around Clare and her family could develop them even further and build a good fan base.

Themes:
Loyalty
Friendship
Love
Being different

Age Appropriateness:
Grades 7 & up

Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: very mild
Nudity/Adult Content: mild
Violence: mild