title: Dead Is the New Black
author:  Marlene Perez 
description: Grade 7 Up&mdash;Nightshade, CA, is downright strange and full of the unexpected. When the girl-to-be, cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, begins the school year with a completely new look, Daisy Giordano gets suspicious. The fact that Samantha appears dead doesn't seem to bother anyone, and before long looking dead becomes the rage. Being dead takes on a whole new meaning when a girl is mysterious attacked and turns up in the morgue, and other cheerleaders are stricken with seizures. Daisy and her psychic sisters get to work investigating the goings-on and learn that the culprit is really a vampire, and Daisy is determined to get to the bottom of things. This is the witty and humorous first installment in a series; it provides romance, mystery, friendship, adventure, and the supernatural all rolled up in a fast-paced, plot-twisting story. Readers will identify with Daisy and her struggle to accept and appreciate who she really is and what she has to offer. The slapstick humor and tough attitudes mixed with the occult make this an entertaining choice for teen libraries.&mdash;<I>Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  # Dead Is So Last Year
  
  
  ## Marlene Perez
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  GRAPHIA
  
  
  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  
  
  Boston New York 2009
  
  
  >
  
  
  **_Praise for_**  
  
  
  **DEAD IS THE NEW BLACK** **_and_**  
  
  
  **DEAD IS A STATE OF MIND**
  
  
  
  
  
  "Fans who mourn the loss of TV's _Veronica Mars_ are in for a treat  
  
  
  as Perez delivers a wise-cracking, boy-lusting, determined sleuth  
  
  
  of a high school protagonist ... this quick, lighter-than-air spoof  
  
  
  of the undead, cheerleaders and popularity is pure pleasure."
  
  
  — _Publishers Weekly_
  
  
  "Sassy, romantic, and spooky-fun!"
  
  
  —Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of _Tantalize_
  
  
  "A hit.... Grabbed me with the first page and didn't let go."
  
  
  —Julie Kenner, author of _The Good Ghoul's Guide to Getting Even_
  
  
  "Snarky sisters with psychic powers; secret cabals of vamps and  
  
  
  werewolves; missing parental(s); and lots of mysteries yet unsolved.  
  
  
  Nightshade is my kinda town ... can't wait to hang there again ASAP!"
  
  
  —Nancy Holder, author of _Pretty Lit