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Three Quarters Dead Richard Peck 9780803734548 Books

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Three Quarters Dead Richard Peck 9780803734548 Books

Sophomore Kerry is attached to a popular, powerful trio of senior girls: beautiful Tanya, graceful Natalie, and lively Makenzie. Kerry earnestly assures us that the three of them aren't mean girls. Her reasoning? They talk to her. (Never mind the little zingers they throw in.) They sort of include her. And even though events--along with outside observers--conspire to convince Kerry that she is being used, the heady wine of hanging out with this particular group has her too drunk to admit things aren't so great.

Readers will be quick to see that Tanya, the leader of the pack, is a little obsessed with a boy named Spence and with destroying the girl she thinks stole him from her. She enlists Kerry's help without giving her any real information, then leaves Kerry hanging when her plans go south. Which is just one example of the small and large clues we get about Tanya's true nature. Another key point in the early chapters is Kerry noticing Tanya's seeming ability to stop time, or rather, to draw it out to suit her purposes.

Then the unthinkable happens: Tanya, Natalie, and Makenzie are killed when they wrap their car around an apple tree. Here's where Peck's premise gets extra good. Kerry goes into a fugue state, until one day she gets a text message from Tanya telling her to meet the three dead girls in the city at Tanya's Aunt Lily's apartment. Kerry's reaction is relief: "I'd known all along this entire...situation had been too bad to be true."

The haunting of Kerry, which she participates in fervently for pages, is horrifically satisfying. For example, as the four girls dress up in vintage designer clothes from Aunt Lily's closet to go out on the town, the author has fun with macabre puns, the eerie scent of apple blossoms (referring to the tree the car hit), and narrator Kerry's oblivious acceptance of the fact that the dead girls need "major makeup."

The driving force in this book is Kerry's unwillingness to let go--and her problem with being such a follower. Kerry's eagerness to be haunted is just as creepy as the ghosts themselves, and as painful. When she finally snaps out of it, readers will be cheering for her emancipation.

By the way, there's a touch of romance here, but the key relationships in the book are the friendships between girls, for better or for worse.

The most gorgeous thing about Three Quarters Dead is the tone, Kerry's voice and the way it interacts with pacing to build suspense. Peck has Kerry recount her experiences by looking back on the whole thing. In another book, this might create a sense of drag, but here it suits the genre, evoking a hushed midnight rendering of a ghost story lit only by a sleep-over flashlight. Considering the framing, there's an amazing feeling of suspense as we watch Kerry make a series of mindless mistakes, putting complete trust in someone who doesn't deserve it whether she's alive or dead. You just want to grab Kerry and shake her, but since you can't, you have to gut it out, hoping she'll catch on before Tanya does something even worse, continuing as alpha female from beyond the grave.

And isn't that what high school is like sometimes, when you can be enthralled by a "friend" who is nothing but trouble, nothing but selfish? Even so, Three Quarters Dead isn't preachy; it's just scary. And--no surprise here!--it's beautifully well written.


Tags : Three Quarters Dead [Richard Peck] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Kerry is chosen by the coolest clique in school and so she thinks life has finally begun. But then it seems all over when her three friends are killed in a shocking car accident. Or are they? Only weeks after the accident,Richard Peck,Three Quarters Dead,Dial Books,0803734549,JUV018000,Horror,Social Themes - Peer Pressure,Dead;Fiction.,Dead;Juvenile fiction.,Friendship;Juvenile fiction.,Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Dead,Fiction,Fiction-Horror,Friendship,Horror & Ghost Stories,Horror Ghost Stories (Young Adult),JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Horror,Juvenile Fiction Social Themes Peer Pressure,Juvenile Grades 7-9 Ages 12-14,Social Issues - Peer Pressure,TEEN'S FICTION HORROR & GHOST STORIES,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Horror,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Peer Pressure

Three Quarters Dead Richard Peck 9780803734548 Books Reviews

2.5 Stars

Kerry Williamson, high school sophmore, admires Natalie, Tanya and Mackenzie, the three most popular girls in school, from afar, dreaming but never really expecting that one day she may be invited into the super-tight clique. But so it happens! Tanya approaches Kerry at her locker asking if she'd like to be friends. Pretty quickly it becomes evident that Kerry is low man (so to speak) on the totem pole, but she's just happy to be in the group at all. She has what so many teen girls dream of after all popularity, an instant invite to all the coolest parties, someone to go prom dress shopping with.. she just has to decide how far she's willing to take things to maintain her place at the cool kids' table.

Everything is going great until Halloween night, when Kerry is asked to pull a small prank on unpopular fellow student Alyssa Stark (same high school but not same grade). Tanya hears rumor of a procedure Alyssa had done. Tanya doesn't approve, so this prank is meant to bring shame on Alyssa... only Tanya it seems doesn't have the guts to do it herself so she enlists Kerry to do her dirty work. Wouldn't you know, the plan goes to pot and the Little Miss Populars drop Kerry like a hot potato, leaving her to fend for herself.

Fast forward a few months into the year and the reader is informed that Tanya, Natalie and Mackenzie have all been killed in a car wreck en route to a mall to go prom dress shopping... without Kerry... sort of. Kerry wasn't in the car, but she was on the phone with Tanya while Tanya was driving so Kerry does get a heavy dose of survivor's guilt, telling others that she feels "three quarters dead" without her friends around. No worries though... as it turns out, your friends didn't entirely shuffle off this mortal coil....

I'm not all that familiar with Richard Peck's previous work but was curious about this one because 1) paranormal -- a favorite genre of mine and 2) says right on the cover that Peck is apparently an Edgar Award winner, so I was curious to see what his award winning style was like. My verdict FLAT. Flat writing. That's what I walked away from. I mean, I did finish the book, as it's less than 200 pages, but yeah ... almost no creep factor in this one!

Not only that but Kerry drove me bananas. SUCH a doormat! Why was she so desperate to be around these girls at any cost when they said such horrible things to her all the time?! If I had a friend making nasty comments about my mom's divorce, I would pretty quickly inform them they were out of line and could kindly STFU about it but Kerry just lets these things happen. Girl, why?! And she supposedly lives in NYC and I'm supposed to believe she knows absolutely nothing about coffee, coffee shops or the difference between debit and credit... a teen girl in NYC.....yeah, I don't buy that. And what teen girl un-ironically refers to her breasts as "my bosoms" LOL.

I was hoping for a super fun ghost story, as I heard this book described as a cross between The Craft (one of my favorite movies) and Pretty Little Liars. Ended up just finding the plot super weak and laughable as far as paranormal elements but as just a fluff teen read, it did have its entertaining moments.
it was the best book ever. I loved the drama and the suspension that it puts me and most readers in.
Love any book by this author. He is the best writer of his time for YA. Story was a page turner . The usual Peck perfection. Kept you reading until the book was complete . Story hooks and character development always engrossing. Can't wait for the next book , no matter the subject. Read his other related selections and you will understand his appeal.
Sophomore Kerry is attached to a popular, powerful trio of senior girls beautiful Tanya, graceful Natalie, and lively Makenzie. Kerry earnestly assures us that the three of them aren't mean girls. Her reasoning? They talk to her. (Never mind the little zingers they throw in.) They sort of include her. And even though events--along with outside observers--conspire to convince Kerry that she is being used, the heady wine of hanging out with this particular group has her too drunk to admit things aren't so great.

Readers will be quick to see that Tanya, the leader of the pack, is a little obsessed with a boy named Spence and with destroying the girl she thinks stole him from her. She enlists Kerry's help without giving her any real information, then leaves Kerry hanging when her plans go south. Which is just one example of the small and large clues we get about Tanya's true nature. Another key point in the early chapters is Kerry noticing Tanya's seeming ability to stop time, or rather, to draw it out to suit her purposes.

Then the unthinkable happens Tanya, Natalie, and Makenzie are killed when they wrap their car around an apple tree. Here's where Peck's premise gets extra good. Kerry goes into a fugue state, until one day she gets a text message from Tanya telling her to meet the three dead girls in the city at Tanya's Aunt Lily's apartment. Kerry's reaction is relief "I'd known all along this entire...situation had been too bad to be true."

The haunting of Kerry, which she participates in fervently for pages, is horrifically satisfying. For example, as the four girls dress up in vintage designer clothes from Aunt Lily's closet to go out on the town, the author has fun with macabre puns, the eerie scent of apple blossoms (referring to the tree the car hit), and narrator Kerry's oblivious acceptance of the fact that the dead girls need "major makeup."

The driving force in this book is Kerry's unwillingness to let go--and her problem with being such a follower. Kerry's eagerness to be haunted is just as creepy as the ghosts themselves, and as painful. When she finally snaps out of it, readers will be cheering for her emancipation.

By the way, there's a touch of romance here, but the key relationships in the book are the friendships between girls, for better or for worse.

The most gorgeous thing about Three Quarters Dead is the tone, Kerry's voice and the way it interacts with pacing to build suspense. Peck has Kerry recount her experiences by looking back on the whole thing. In another book, this might create a sense of drag, but here it suits the genre, evoking a hushed midnight rendering of a ghost story lit only by a sleep-over flashlight. Considering the framing, there's an amazing feeling of suspense as we watch Kerry make a series of mindless mistakes, putting complete trust in someone who doesn't deserve it whether she's alive or dead. You just want to grab Kerry and shake her, but since you can't, you have to gut it out, hoping she'll catch on before Tanya does something even worse, continuing as alpha female from beyond the grave.

And isn't that what high school is like sometimes, when you can be enthralled by a "friend" who is nothing but trouble, nothing but selfish? Even so, Three Quarters Dead isn't preachy; it's just scary. And--no surprise here!--it's beautifully well written.