The Last Academy

by Anne Applegate

Overview

What is this prep school preparing them for?

Camden Fisher arrives at boarding school haunted by a falling-out with her best friend back home. But the manicured grounds of Lethe Academy are like nothing Cam has ever known. There are gorgeous, preppy boys wielding tennis rackets, and circles of girls with secrets to spare. Only . . . something is not quite right. One of Cam's new friends mysteriously disappears, but the teachers don't seem too concerned. Cam wakes up to strangers in her room, who then melt into the night. She is suddenly plagued by odd memories, and senses there might be something dark and terrible brewing. But what? The answer will leave Cam--and readers--stunned and breathless, in this thrilling debut novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545503778
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	04/30/2013
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	883 KB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Anne Applegate attended a boarding school in Santa Barbara as a teenager. She later graduated from Tufts University with a degree in clinical psychology, and now lives in California with her husband and three children. Please visit her online at www.anneapplegate.com.

Read an Excerpt

From THE LAST ACADEMYThen I was at Nora's door. There was no one milling about in the hallway this time. In fact, it seemed even more dark and deserted than usual."Come in!" Nora yelled. She was sitting out on the patio. Already Jessie's stuff had a dusty, Pharaoh's tomb look to it. I hurried through the room and joined Nora outside. "Where have you been?" I demanded. "Crisis counseling." She jumped out of her seat and paced the patio, stalky as a wet cat."What really happened to Jessie?" I asked. "Did she . . ." "I don't know. When I woke up, she was gone.""What do you mean, 'when you woke up she was gone'? People were talking about an ambulance. They said she killed herself.""Look, I don't know anything about that." Nora enunciated every word. I wanted to shake her or something. Jessie had been my friend too. "But what about all her stuff?" I demanded. "What about her wallet? Are you telling me she just got up in the middle of the night and walked out of your room and . . . disappeared?"

Editorial Reviews

After a disastrous pool party ends 14-year-old Camden Fischer’s friendship with her best friend, she escapes to boarding school in California. Camden struggles to fit in with her new schoolmates, eventually settling into a few uneasy friendships. When one of her new friends disappears, Cam begins to doubt the official story on what happened. Readers familiar with Greek mythology should pick up on the clues about Lethe Academy that debut author Applegate drops like breadcrumbs through her story (unfortunately, the title is a bit of a spoiler, too). For readers who miss those hints, the story offers several horror movie–worthy moments of creepiness, which also serve to tip Applegate’s hand too early, sapping some of the suspense. The author gives Camden a believable ninth-grade voice; inventive turns of phrase lend her narration a fresh, informal quality that serves as a counterpoint to the eerie events that unfold. But most readers will likely be left wondering why it’s taking Camden so long to piece together what they figured out chapters ago. Ages 12–up. Agent: Eddie Gamarra, the Gotham Group. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Creating a sense of doom is infinitely more difficult in a novel than in a movie; debut author Applegate makes a worthy attempt. Camden arrives as a freshman at Lethe Academy, a boarding school in California. On the plane, she meets a creepy man who coincidentally is a trustee at her new school. Named Barnaby Charon, he creates a lot of misgivings within Camden. At least she makes new friends quickly, like Jessie and Nora, plus the glamorous Brynn. Best of all, there's the charming and completely hot Mark Elliott. Camden might have seemingly random hallucinations, and she doesn't get along with her roommate, but otherwise things are good at Lethe. When Jessie disappears and no one seems to care--and Barnaby Charon is involved--Camden knows she has to take action. But Camden's visions are becoming more disturbing, especially what she sees when she visits Mark's family. For all the questions Camden has, only one person has the answers: Barnaby Charon. At first, unexplained plot events, such as Camden's going to boarding school in the first place and unusual images, may confuse readers. Yet as the tension mounts, the unanswered questions spur them on. Anyone who knows Greek mythology will probably figure out the twist quickly, but this novel is still an enjoyable read. (Suspense. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews