The Mystery of Alice

 The Mystery of Alice, by Lee Bacon

I listened to this audio book and it is very cleverly written.  It is written as an audio diary of this young girl named Emily who is unhappy in her public school.  She is being bullied .  She gets an invitation to take a test and apply for a scholarship for an elite private school and she passes and goes off to the special school.  She meets her roommate who also is a scholarship student, Alice.  Then the mystery begins, Alice disappears.  Emily walks around recording her surroundings and conversations and also her own thoughts.  So you are listening to her in real time.  It is very well done because you also hear street noise as she is walking around the city, horns, other people passing her talking.  Good middle school story plot.

Though this is a clever technique for writing I am not sure how realistic it is.  Maybe by being so extreme that these plans can not really happen, it is readable with an important message but not real enough for others to imitate.  The message is clear bullying is not appropriate, funny or nice.  It is a serious offence.