title: Beautiful Dead Book 1: Jonas (The Beautiful Dead)
author:  Eden Maguire 
description: Grade 7 UpGrief-stricken Darina is mourning the loss of her boyfriend, Phoenix, who has been stabbed to death in a gang fight. And he's not the only teen in their small town to die under strange circumstances. Three other Ellerton High studentsJonas, Summer, and Arizonadied unnatural deaths within the year. But when Darina goes to an abandoned farm outside of town, she discovers that the teens may have died, but they aren't gone. Instead, they exist in a kind of between state, becoming supernatural creatures known as the Beautiful Dead. Because of the uncertainties surrounding their deaths, they are allowed to return to Earth for 12 months to try to find resolution. Darina agrees to help them in order to have more time with Phoenix, even though it means having her memory wiped out. She begins with Jonas, who died in a motorcycle crash in which his girlfriend was critically injured, and who has only four days until his year is up. Although the many superpowers of the Beautiful Dead are a bit over-the-top, this is a fun read that blends elements of several genres, and teen girls will empathize with Darina and her love and grief for Phoenix.<i>Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: The world needed warriors who could fight the
  good fight, and Jonas Slowman, Navajo name “The
  Shadow,” was the best of the best.
  Gun in one hand, Emily’s hand in the other, Jonas continued his progress
  along the wooded side of the road in pursuit of a lead. Between his ranger
  training in the military and his experience with the Brotherhood of Warriors,
  he knew all the tricks of the trade. But one moment’s distraction could result
  in lethal consequences. Jonas knew how to stay alive, and that’s why he was
  here now instead of in a cemetery on the Navajo Nation. Without focus, he
  and Emily would be nothing more than the walking dead. That, more than
  anything, confirmed for him that there was no place for love in his life. It
  softened a man and muddied his objectivity. And he had to keep Emily safe.
  
  Dear Reader,
  Several years ago I began to experience a loss of vision. Those months were
  without a doubt the most terrifying of my life. Like the heroine, I told no one
  at first, but eventuall