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    The Mediator #1: Shadowland
    The Mediator #1: Shadowland
    The Mediator #1: Shadowland
    Ebook230 pages3 hours

    The Mediator #1: Shadowland

    By Meg Cabot

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Shadowland is the first book in the thrilling, romantic Mediator series, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot. 

    Suze is a mediator—a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living.

    But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations. But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy.

    There's a ghost with revenge on her mind...and Suze happens to be in the way.

    Don't miss the delightfully funny supernatural Mediator series, from New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperTeen
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061971884
    The Mediator #1: Shadowland
    Author

    Meg Cabot

    MEG CABOT’s many books for both adults and teens have included numerous #1 New York Times bestsellers, with more than twenty-five million copies sold worldwide. Her Princess Diaries series was made into two hit films by Disney, with a third movie coming soon. Meg currently lives in Key West, Florida, with her husband and various cats.

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    Reviews for The Mediator #1

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      seneng akhirnya bisa baca buku pertama nya series the mediator ini❤❤
    • 3/5
      I loved this series as a teenager and still have an appreciation for it as an adult but it is very clear I am no longer in the target audience. It's a fun read and I've got some nostalgic feelings for it but tbh if I read this for the first time now at 30 I would probably hate it.
    • 4/5
      After her mom marries her second husband Andy, Suze moves from New York to California to live with mom, Andy, and her three new stepbrothers, Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc. (I have stepsiblings, that cracked me right up.) She's leaving behind her best friend Gina, but she'll still have visits from the ghost of her dead dad and all the new ghosts she might find, including the one living in her new bedroom. Suze sees dead people. She's a mediator and it's her job to help them find out why they haven't moved on and fix whatever problem there is. Suze gets in trouble a lot because sometimes her "job" calls for a little breaking and entering.

      The new school isn't so bad. She's at Junipero Serra High School (alma mater of Tom Brady!) and her new principal--Father Dom--is a mediator like her, the first one she's ever met. Father Dom thinks talking to ghosts and filling them with love and understanding is the way while Suze realizes that since she can touch ghosts she's te one who's called upon to give a swift kick to some ghost ass when called for. And it's called for when the ghost of a girl who killed herself wants to kill a boy, Suze, and eventually take out the entire school.
    • 3/5
      Well, this book certainly isn't dull. In fact it is quite humorous, with a touch of romance, and lots of paranormal action. I really liked Susannah (Suze) the protagonist. Having been a mediator since the age of two, she is well aware of her capabilities, and is a tough, no nonsense sort of girl who isn't afraid to tackle angry ghosts refusing to 'cross-over'. There are other great characters throughout the book including Suze's young step-brother, Doc, and the principal of her new school, Father Dom. Jesse, the ghost living in Suze's bedroom, is also rather a cutie. This is a quick-paced, entertaining read for younger teens.
    • 4/5
      For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.So Gillian (Writer of Wrongs) and I decided that a reread of this series was totally necessary to life happiness. The Mediator series was my favorite of Meg Cabot’s stuff back in the day, and I love revisiting old favorites. Though I don’t have time to binge, they are fun, fast reads and will totally prevent slumping with their awesome. In some ways, Shadowland wasn’t as good as I remembered, but mostly it was still totally bitching and I loved it.Meg Cabot brings the humor like few people can. She is at her best when she’s being totally silly and going for pure entertainment. The Mediator series actually blends in some dark paranormal stuff, but the overall tone remains hilarity. Suze is a Mediator, which means she can see dead people Haley Joel Osment style and talk them to the next life or whatever. Only her dead people don’t look like they did when they died with bullet holes or whatever; they look nice, because hello we’re trying to have fun here.Susannah Simon is wonderful. The reason I loved these books so much is in large part due to her. She’s kind of a bitch, but in the best way. Nobody messes with Suze without getting punched in the face or told off, depending on her mood at any given time. Basically, Suze defends herself and also other people. She is not someone to stand by and watch bullying happen. Also, she comes up with hilarious names for people, like her new step-brothers, who she calls Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc.So far, Doc is the most interesting of Suze’s family members. He’s the youngest son of her mom’s new husband, and he is a genius. Doc (David) is adorably awkward, constantly feeling the need to unload his knowledge on people. That could be annoying, but he also really cares and is so sweet to Suze. Sleepy (Jake) shows hints of becoming the awesome character I think I remember him being later, but mostly he lives up to his name. Dopey’s the worst. The parents are nice, but not all that much part of the story yet. I do like how the step-family is shown in a good light, with no real drama.Also, Jesse de Silva. I’d forgotten how relatively minor his role was in this first book. He’s fabulous of course, but he’s not really shining yet. He’s this super hot ghost living in her room of the family’s old house. He is a bit overly interested in her too quickly, but I also feel like he was probably really bored and astounded to find someone who could see and touch him, so I get it.Shadowland is hilariously dated. Like, Susannah discusses things like second phone lines and looking up phone numbers in her date book. The slang is all over the place and quite frequent. Some of it is in line with 2000 when the book came out, and some things like “hosed” are ones I’ve only heard people of my parent’s generation say. But, whatever, it’s hilarious. Also hilarious is when Suze asked Doc if their school had computers. We had a computer lab and computers in the library at my public elementary school back in the early 90s, so I’m pretty confident that in 2000 an expensive private school would definitely have them. Pretty much any school anywhere would.If you need something light that will make you laugh, you cannot go wrong with an old school Meg Cabot novel. This is a universally acknowledged truth, y’all.
    • 4/5
      I've never read any of Meg Cabot's oeuvre until now, so my first exposure was very amusing. I'm impressed how this author developed an authentic voice that reflected the hierarchical social difficulties in school. Her presentation was a genuine perspective of teenager realities.Although clearly aimed at the Tween-mid YA audience, I admired the vibe she put forth, not ascribing childishness or boring on about what the adults thought. The main character, Susannah (Suze), was a sharp, snappy protagonist and Cabot's dialogue struck me as genuinely "16 years old with an Attitude". Perfectly nuanced, though I found the 'fist in the face' a tad unrealistic. That type of slugfest can hurt one's fist (not to mention the victim) considerably more than portrayed, as does the event of having a breezeway falling on you.Despite these niggles, the interplay within the classroom and Suze's step-brothers resonates with the situations in today's Middle school as much as high school, so kudos for painting a realistic picture. The paranormal aspect was well done and very intriguing with the way those scenes slipped into the narrative. Highly recommended for teens coping with new schools, social hassles and who are open to some paranormal episodes. A good type of story similar to Zilpha Keaetly Snyder's Stanley family series.
    • 4/5
      This series was very intriguing the first time I read it, in 8th and 9th grade. Rereading it as an 18 year-old really didn't fascinate me as much. Only books that can be read multiple times and still be amazing get 5 stars.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      great book my daughter loves it
    • 5/5
      amazing bookß
    • 3/5
      Cabot writes frothy YA books that are weirdly good. She has a real skill for writing realistic, fully-realized young female protagonists. They never feel by-the-numbers, despite the cliched positions they find themselves in (this particular narrator can talk to the dead)--they're always very definitely *themselves*. Also, even her most otherworldly of books has an edge of common sense to them, which is a welcome change to the "vampires are just like humans, only sexier" route most "otherworldly romance" takes.
    • 5/5
      PLOT OR PREMISE:Susannah is a mediator, a la Sixth Sense, helping ghosts resolve their earthly problems so they can depart. She lived a life of adventure and school problems in New York, hung out with her visiting dead father's ghost, and got in trouble with the law. Then Mom married a guy from California and they moved in with the new family -- new stepdad and three new stepbrothers. And her first day of school? She finds out that her school's principal, a priest, is also a mediator. She's not alone! Ever!.WHAT I LIKED:The introduction of a character who gets to physically interact with ghosts is great, and the introduction of Susannah to the ghost Jesse who has been haunting her new bedroom for the last 150 years is actually funny. There are lots of humourous bits as she moves into the new school, and meets the resident bully -- a rejected popular girl who committed suicide over a boy, and now wants to exact revenge on him..WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:Some of the clichés used around the vengeful ghost are a bit much, and the constant injuries to various people while she skates uninjured is rather exaggerated..BOTTOM-LINE:She sees dead people.DISCLOSURE:I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.
    • 4/5
      It was a nice book. It has a light plot but the what the characters are presented are great! Well, who can't not like Jesse right?

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      It is a very cute book. i enjoyed it and am planning on reading the next one.
    • 5/5
      Plot: Mediator Suze Simon has moved across the country after her mother’s marriage. It is not the new step family that is her problem, though. Rather it is the ghost of the dead (and very attractive) Jesse who haunts her room that is giving her a headache. But Jesse is nothing in comparison to the trouble that Suze soon finds herself in at her new high school.My reaction: I love this book! Suze is feisty and relatable, despite her paranormal tendencies. Cabot’s writing is fresh here, unlike some of her more recently published novels. I can easily picture tween and teen girls devouring this series!Recommended Age Level: 11+Series information: Shadowland is book #1 in the Mediator series which wrapped up with a total of six books.
    • 3/5
      Ah Meg Cabot, like sweet crack to me you are. What's to say, heavy on appeal and light on critical reflection. I would never say brainless but for sure a good, harmless, time.
    • 4/5
      Random disclaimer: This is the first Meg Cabot book I ever read (granted, underneath the Jenny Carroll name, I didn’t make the connection until later), so this series does hold a special place in my literary heart. Shadowlands makes for a good entry point and set-up for the next five books—you get enough backstory about what a mediator does and how it’s affected Suze throughout her life. (Although I’m surprised that she never ran into another mediator until she moves to Carmel, but plot-convenient and what occurs later, does make sense.) Suze is an immensely likeable character, snarky without going mean girl and willing to stand up for people no matter what happens. Also, the set-up with her relationship with Jesse does delve into the forbidden love angst, I like how she defines the rules if they’re going to be stuck living together. In short, a paranormal series that’s a massive alternative from the bigger, mainstream series.
    • 3/5
      This was okay, but I wasn't incredibly impressed. I thought it started off pretty good and I thought I would really enjoy it but I got pretty bored of it after a while. Susannah was tolerable at the start but I honestly didn't like her that much as the story went on. She just irritated me and I didn't find her very likable. I liked the premise of the book and I think it showed a lot of promise but to me, the plot just seemed a bit all over the place and jumbled. I also really disliked the fact that Susannah referred to her stepbrothers by both their names and her 'private nicknames' she had for them. It was just confusing, especially since we didn't know the stepbrothers all that well. It was a light and entertaining read though and I am still interested in reading more books in this series.
    • 5/5
      When I decided to read Shadowland (first book of a series) I was expecting a good book because I had read some of Meg Cabot's other books and I liked them. But when I started reading Shadowland, I could not put it down. It was SO good. I quickly went onto the next book in the series. I think I read the whole Mediator series in one week. It was that good. I recommend this book to everyone.
    • 4/5
      Title: ShadowlandAuthor: Meg CabotGenre: FictionPublisher: AvonPublication Date: January 2005Paperback: 284Summary: Suze is a mediator -- a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind ... and Suze happens to be in the way.Book Review:I have to say that I devoured this book. Shadowland was another solid book. I often enjoy Meg Cabot's books, and this one was no disappointment. It wasn't one of those deep books though. It's one of those books that you read for fun. Meg Cabot did a decent job at creating the plot and the characters. There wasn't really anything that stood out. I only just got around to reading this book, and it wasn't memorable. I enjoyed it and it was a quick read which was nice. When I was reading it I did get into the story, but once it ended I kinda forgot about it. It's one of those books that are pretty good, and that you like, but doesn't really stick with you. Overall pretty good.Rating: BNotable Quotes:"I'm sorry, Heather, but everything was not just fine before I got here. You know how I know that? Because you're dead. Okay? You are dead. Dead people don't have lockers, or best friends, or boyfriends. You know why? Because they're dead.-Suze Simon" "They just kept grinning at me from over the stupid sign, Dopey becausehe's too dumb to know any better, Doc because – well, I guess because he might have been glad to seeme. Doc's weird that way. Sleepy, the oldest, just stood there, looking … well, sleepy."
    • 3/5
      Suzie can see ghosts! She moves in with her mums boyfriend and sees a super hot ghost sharing her room. Soon Suzie meets a ghost who is trying to kill her(live) boyfriend,who, just so happens to be the boy Suzie has a crush on!  
    • 3/5
      Recommended by Stasia, this is a quick, easy, breezy, fun read. A Young Adult book about a 16 year old New York born and raised girl who, from the age of two, discovered she can communicate with ghosts. As a mediator she assists ghosts transition on to the next life.When her mother remarries and moves to California, Susie's life changes as she adapts to a new school and three new brothers. In her new high school, she encounters a very nasty spirit of a girl who committed suicide. Learning to fit into a new environment while trying to keep the secret of her unique abilities proves to be quite a challenge.If you are looking for a fun read, then take a few well spent hours and relax with this delightful book.
    • 5/5
      Suze is a mediator—a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations. But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind ... and Suze happens to be in the way.I love Meg Cabot's books, my friends HIGHLY recommended this series to me along with her 1800 series. Anyways i can easily compare Suze to Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy series. Only because of they are both smart asses and they kick asses or something like that.Suze is my second favorite heroine of all time.I love this book because it has just the right amount of action and love in it that it gets to be very addictive. It's Fun and light, this book has a heroine who is strong and doesn't mind kicking some ghost butt once in a while in her job as a mediator. She can see ghosts and her job is to help them resolve the issue that is keeping them on Earth and making them not want to move on.There's mystery and action, there's a budding romance between her and a ghost that haunts her bedroom, Jesse, the challenge of living in a new town with new stepbrothers (3 of them!) and a new stepfather. I would really hate that job ~the mediator~, after i watched the sixth sense, i was like i never want to see a ghost. I mean that's a hard job and she doesn't get paid for it. i get her props!
    • 4/5
      Now, I haven't enjoyed paranormal elements ina while. I was over the whole trite thing with the werewolves and the ghost stories and the angsty, angsty vampires. This book is different. For one, it's fun. For another, the fast pacing doesn't leave you breathless. Seriously. Read it. It's light and sweet and cute, and simply fun. Like a new icecream flavour.
    • 5/5
      The meadiator was a very good book about this girl who is a mediator. she can talk to the dead ghosts that have to fulfill their purposes to get them to the "other side". The reader will be able to relate to the character as she deals with love and crushes and the harshness of high school as she deals with getting the ghost of a former student to pass on before she kills her ex boyfriend and half the school.
    • 5/5
      The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot is about a girl that can see ghosts. This becomes a little tricky when she moves from New York to California only to find a gorgeous ghost is already living in her bedroom. Not only does Suze have to deal with Jesse there is another ghost trying to kill people at her school. I loved these books, Suze was so down to earth and Jesse was so crushable.
    • 5/5
      There's a hot guy in Susannah Simon's bedroom. Too bad he's a ghost Suze is a mediator - a liason between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetary, and surfing instead of spectral visitations. But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind..... and Suze happens to be in the way.I really love any of Meg Cabot's books and this is no exception. This was one of the first series I read of her's and I love it so much. I am a stickler for romance and ghosts. :D I mean meeting a hot ghost would be stellar! Don't you think?
    • 4/5
      Have you ever watched the show GHOST WHISPERER, with Jennifer Love Hewitt? It's basically the same idea. A girl who can talk to ghosts and help these souls go into the light. Difference is... in the story, Suze can not only see and talk to them, but touch and kick their butts. It does put an interesting twist on the whole mediator thing.What to say.... the first book in the series isn't like an "OMG... you HAVE to read this." but... it's a "not bad... if you're a fan of Meg Cabot, Ghost Whisperer, butt-kicking heroines, paranormal then read this." As for me, I will be getting the rest of the series because I am.. a fan of Meg Cabot, .. etc. haha.
    • 2/5
      Susannah Simon, better known as Suze, has moved from New York to California to join her mom and her new step family. She has an extraordinary gift - she sees ghosts and talks with them. Suze is really a mediator, a person who helps ghosts get to the other side. As she settles into her new home and school, she is confronted by two very troublesome ghosts; Jesse who is a long "dead" cowboy and Heather who recently committed suicide after her boyfriend, Bryce, broke up with her. Jesse is more of an irritation but Heather is down right dangerous, especially since Bryce takes an interest in Suze. Suze has help with her ghostly pursuits from her school principal, Fr. Dominic, who is also a mediator. The key to this book is the breezy first-person narration.
    • 4/5
      Very fun series! Awesome books, quick easy reads, recommend to every teen!
    • 3/5
      This is an enjoyable, fast read. It is book one of a series, and I'm certain that middle school girls will like it. Small profanity warning - the b.... word is used when the female ghost becomes highly antagonized by Susannah Simon, the main character. Suze moves in with her mother, who has remarried Andy Ackerman. Suze's father is dead, but since she can see ghosts, he often visits her, although he doesn't appear in book one. In this book, a girl who has committed suicide is not willing to move on, and when Suze suggests that she needs to do that, the girl, Heather, goes beserk, and almost kills Suze. Meanwhle, Suze gets to know Jesse, the resident, very attractive male ghost who lives in her bedroom.

    Book preview

    The Mediator #1 - Meg Cabot

    Chapter

    One

    They told me there’d be palm trees.

    I didn’t believe them, but that’s what they told me. They told me I’d be able to see them from the plane.

    Oh, I know they have palm trees in southern California. I mean, I’m not a complete moron. I’ve watched 90210, and everything. But I was moving to northern California. I didn’t expect to see palm trees in northern California. Not after my mom told me not to give away all my sweaters.

    Oh, no, my mom had said. You’ll need them. Your coats, too. It can get cold there. Not as cold as New York, maybe, but pretty chilly.

    Which was why I wore my black leather motorcycle jacket on the plane. I could have shipped it, I guess, with the rest of my stuff, but it kind of made me feel better to wear it.

    So there I was, sitting on the plane in a black leather motorcycle jacket, seeing these palm trees through the window as we landed. And I thought, Great. Black leather and palm trees. Already I’m fitting in, just like I knew I would….

    … Not.

    My mom isn’t particularly fond of my leather jacket, but I swear I didn’t wear it to make her mad, or anything. I’m not resentful of the fact that she decided to marry a guy who lives three thousand miles away, forcing me to leave school in the middle of my sophomore year; abandon the best—and pretty much only—friend I’ve had since kindergarten; leave the city I’ve been living in for all of my sixteen years.

    Oh, no. I’m not a bit resentful.

    The thing is, I really do like Andy, my new step-dad. He’s good for my mom. He makes her happy. And he’s very nice to me.

    It’s just this moving-to-California thing that bugs me.

    Oh, and did I mention Andy’s three other kids?

    They were all there to greet me when I got off the plane. My mom, Andy, and Andy’s three sons. Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc, I call them. They’re my new stepbrothers.

    Susie! Even if I hadn’t heard my mom squealing my name as I walked through the gate, I wouldn’t have missed them—my new family. Andy was making his two youngest boys hold up this big sign that said WELCOME HOME, SUSANNAH! Everybody getting off my flight was walking by it, going, Aw, look how cute, to their travel companions, and smiling at me in this sickening way.

    Oh, yeah. I’m fitting in. I’m fitting in just great.

    Okay, I said, walking up to my new family fast. You can put the sign down now.

    But my mom was too busy hugging me to pay any attention. Oh, Susie! she kept saying. I hate when anybody but my mom calls me Susie, so I shot the boys this mean look over her shoulder, just in case they were getting any big ideas. They just kept grinning at me from over the stupid sign, Dopey because he’s too dumb to know any better, Doc because—well, I guess because he might have been glad to see me. Doc’s weird that way. Sleepy, the oldest, just stood there, looking … well, sleepy.

    How was your flight, kiddo? Andy took my bag off my shoulder, and put it on his own. He seemed surprised by how heavy it was, and went, Whoa, what’ve you got in here, anyway? You know it’s a felony to smuggle New York City fire hydrants across state lines.

    I smiled at him. Andy’s this really big goof, but he’s a nice big goof. He wouldn’t have the slightest idea what constitutes a felony in the state of New York since he’s only been there, like, five times. Which was, incidentally, exactly how many visits it took him to convince my mother to marry him.

    It’s not a fire hydrant, I said. It’s a parking meter. And I have four more bags.

    Four? Andy pretended he was shocked. What do you think you’re doing, moving in or something?

    Did I mention that Andy thinks he’s a comedian? He’s not. He’s a carpenter.

    Suze, Doc said, all enthusiastically. Suze, did you notice that as you were landing, the tail of the plane kicked up a little? That was from an updraft. It’s caused when a mass moving at a considerable rate of speed encounters a counter-blowing wind velocity of equal or greater strength.

    Doc, Andy’s youngest kid, is twelve, but he’s going on about forty. He spent almost the entire wedding reception telling me about alien cattle mutilation, and how Area 51 is just this big cover-up by the American government, which doesn’t want us to know that We Are Not Alone.

    Oh, Susie, my mom kept saying. I’m so glad you’re here. You’re just going to love the house. It just didn’t feel like home at first, but now that you’re here… Oh, and wait until you’ve seen your room. Andy’s fixed it up so nice….

    Andy and my mom spent weeks before they got married looking for a house big enough for all four kids to have their own rooms. They finally settled on this huge house in the hills of Carmel, which they’d only been able to afford because they’d bought it in this completely wretched state, and this construction company Andy does a lot of work for fixed it up at this big discount rate. My mom has been going on for days about my room, which she keeps swearing is the nicest one in the house.

    The view! she kept saying. An ocean view from the big bay window in your room! Oh, Suze, you’re going to love it.

    I was sure I was going to love it. About as much as I was going to love giving up bagels for alfalfa sprouts, and the subway for surfing, and all that sort of stuff.

    For some reason, Dopey opened his mouth, and went, Do you like the sign? in that stupid voice of his. I can’t believe he’s my age. He’s on the school wrestling team, though, so what can you expect? All he ever thinks about, from what I could tell when I had to sit next to him at the wedding reception—I had to sit between him and Doc, so you can imagine how the conversation just flowed—is choke holds and body-building protein shakes.

    Yeah, great sign, I said, yanking it out of his meaty hands, and holding it so that the lettering faced the floor. Can we go? I wanna pick up my bags before someone else does.

    Oh, right, my mom said. She gave me one last hug. Oh, I’m just so glad to see you! You look so great…. And then, even though you could tell she didn’t want to say it, she went ahead and said it anyway, in a low voice, so no one else could hear: Thought I’ve talked to you before about that jacket, Suze. And I thought you were throwing those jeans away.

    I was wearing my oldest jeans, the ones with the holes in the knees. They went really well with my black silk T and my zip-up ankle boots. The jeans and boots, coupled with my black leather motorcycle jacket and my Army-Navy surplus shoulder bag, made me look like a teen runaway in a made-for-TV movie.

    But hey, when you’re flying for eight hours across the country, you want to be comfortable.

    I said that, and my mom just rolled her eyes and dropped it. That’s the good thing about my mom. She doesn’t harp, like other moms do. Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc have no idea how lucky they are.

    All right, she said, instead. Let’s get your bags. Then, raising her voice, she called, Jake, come on. We’re going to get Suze’s bags.

    She had to call Sleepy by name, since he looked as if he had fallen asleep standing up. I asked my mother once if Jake, who is a senior in high school, has narcolepsy, or possibly a drug habit, and she was like, No, why would you say that? Like the guy doesn’t just stand there blinking all the time, never saying a word to anyone.

    Wait, that’s not true. He did say something to me, once. Once he said, Hey, are you in a gang? He asked me that at the wedding, when he caught me standing outside with my leather jacket on over my maid of honor’s dress, sneaking a cigarette.

    Give me a break, all right? It was my first and only cigarette ever. I was under a lot of stress at the time. I was worried my mom was going to marry this guy and move to California and forget all about me. I swear I haven’t smoked a single cigarette since.

    And don’t get me wrong about Jake. At six foot one, with the same shaggy blond hair and twinkly blue eyes as his dad, he’s what my best friend Gina would call a hottie. But he’s not the shiniest rock in the rock garden, if you know what I mean.

    Doc was still going on about wind velocity. He was explaining the speed with which it is necessary to travel in order to break through the earth’s gravitational force. This speed is called escape velocity. I decided Doc might be useful to have around, homework-wise, even if I am three grades ahead of him.

    While Doc talked, I looked around. This was my first trip ever to California, and let me tell you, even though we were still only in the airport—and it was the San Jose International Airport—you could tell we weren’t in New York anymore. I mean, first off, everything was clean. No dirt, no litter, no graffiti anywhere. The concourse was all done up in pastels, too, and you know how light colors show the dirt. Why do you think New Yorkers wear black all the time? Not to be cool. Nuh-uh. So we don’t have to haul all our clothes down to the Laundromat every single time we wear them.

    But that didn’t appear to be a problem in sunny CA. From what I could tell, pastels were in. This one woman walked by us, and she had on pink leggings and a white Spandex sports bra. And that’s all. If this is an example of what’s de rigueur in California, I could tell I was in for some major culture shock.

    And you know what else was strange? Nobody was fighting. There were passengers lined up here and there, but they weren’t raising their voices at the people behind the ticket counter. In New York, if you’re a customer, you fight with the people behind the counter, no matter where you are—airport, Bloomingdale’s, hot dog stand. Wherever.

    Not here. Everybody here was just way calm.

    And I guess I could see why. I mean, it didn’t look to me like there was anything to get upset about. Outside, the sun was beating down on those palm trees I’d seen from the sky. There were seagulls—not pigeons, but actual big white-and-gray seagulls—scratching around in the parking lot. And when we went to get my bags, nobody even checked to see if the stickers on them matched my ticket stubs. No, everybody was just like, Buh-bye! Have a nice day!

    Unreal.

    Gina—she was my best friend back in Brooklyn; well, okay, my only friend, really—told me before I left that I’d find there were advantages to having three stepbrothers. She should know since she’s got four—not steps, but real brothers. Anyway, I didn’t believe her any more than I’d believed people about the palm trees. But when Sleepy picked up two of my bags, and Dopey grabbed the other two, leaving me with exactly nothing to carry, since Andy had my shoulder bag, I finally realized what she was talking about: Brothers can be useful. They can carry really heavy stuff, and not even look like it’s bothering them.

    Hey, I packed those bags. I knew what was in them. They were not light. But Sleepy and Dopey were like, No problem here. Let’s get moving.

    My bags secure, we headed out into the parking lot. As the automatic doors opened, everyone—including my mom—reached into a pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Apparently, they all knew something I didn’t know. And as I stepped outside, I realized what it was.

    It’s sunny here.

    Not just sunny, either, but bright—so bright and colorful, it hurts your eyes. I had sunglasses, too, somewhere, but since it had been about forty degrees and sleeting when I left New York, I hadn’t thought to put them anywhere easily accessible. When my mother had first told me we’d be moving—she and Andy decided it was easier for her, with one kid and a job as a TV news reporter, to relocate than it would be for Andy and his three kids to do it, especially considering that Andy owns his own business—she’d explained to me that I’d love northern California. It’s where they filmed all those Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase movies! she told me.

    I like Goldie Hawn, and I like Chevy Chase, but I never knew they made a movie together.

    It’s where all those Steinbeck stories you had to read in school took place, she said. "You know, The Red Pony."

    Well, I wasn’t very impressed. I mean, all I remembered from The Red Pony was that there weren’t any girls in it, although there were a lot of hills. And as I stood in the parking lot, squinting at the hills surrounding the San Jose International Airport, I saw that there were a lot of hills, and the grass on them was dry and brown.

    But dotting the hills were these trees, trees not like any I’d ever seen before. They were squashed on top as if a giant fist had come down from the sky and given them a thump. I found out later these were called cypress trees.

    And all around the parking lot, where there was evidently a watering system, there were these fat bushes with these giant red flowers on them, mostly squatting down at the bottom of these impossibly tall, surprisingly thick palm trees. The flowers, I found out, when I looked them up later, were hibiscus. And the strange-looking bugs that I saw hovering around them, making a brrr-ing noise, weren’t bugs at all. They were hummingbirds.

    Oh, my mom said when I pointed this out. They’re everywhere. We have feeders for them up at the house. You can hang one from your window if you want.

    Hummingbirds that come right up to your window? The only birds that ever came up to my window back in Brooklyn were pigeons. My mom never exactly encouraged me to feed them.

    My moment of joy about the hummingbirds was shattered when Dopey announced suddenly, I’ll drive, and started for the driver’s seat of this huge utility vehicle we were approaching.

    "I will drive," Andy said firmly.

    Aw, Dad, Dopey said. How’m I ever going to pass the test if you never let me practice?

    You can practice in the Rambler, Andy said. He opened up the back of his Land Rover, and started putting my bags into it. That goes for you, too, Suze.

    This startled me. What goes for me, too?

    You can practice driving in the Rambler. He wagged a finger jokingly in my direction. But only if there’s someone with a valid license in the passenger seat.

    I just blinked up at him. I can’t drive, I said.

    Dopey let out this big horse laugh. You can’t drive? He elbowed Sleepy, who was leaning against the side of the truck, his face turned toward the sun. Hey, Jake, she can’t drive!

    It isn’t at all uncommon, Brad, Doc said, for a native New Yorker to lack a driver’s license. Don’t you know that New York City boasts the largest mass transit system in North America, serving a population of thirteen point two million people in a four-thousand-square-mile radius fanning out from New York City through Long Island all the way to Connecticut? And that one point seven billion riders take advantage of their extensive fleet of subways, buses, and railroads every year?

    Everybody looked at Doc. Then my mother said carefully, I never kept a car in the city.

    Andy closed the doors to the back of the Land Rover. Don’t worry, Suze, he said. We’ll get you enrolled in a driver’s ed course right away. You can take it and catch up to Brad in no time.

    I looked at Dopey. Never in a million years had I ever expected that someone would suggest that I needed to catch up to Brad in any capacity whatsoever.

    But I could see I was in for a lot of surprises. The palm trees had only been the beginning. As we drove to the house, which was a good hour away from the airport—and not a quick hour, either, with me wedged in between Sleepy and Dopey, with Doc in the way back, perched on top of my luggage, still expounding on the glories of the New York City transportation authority—I began to realize that things were going to be different—very, very different—than I had anticipated, and certainly different from what I was used to.

    And not just because I was living on the opposite side of the continent. Not just because everywhere I looked, I saw things I’d never have seen back in New York: roadside stands advertising artichokes or pomegranates, twelve for a dollar; field after field of grapevines, twisting and twisting around wooden arbors; groves of lemon and avocado trees; lush green vegetation I couldn’t even identify. And arcing above it all, a sky

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