Ballad by Maggie Stievfater

[bj neary]

James Morgan and his best friend, Deidre(Dee) have awesome musical abilities. James plays the bagpipes, is annoyingly egotistical, funny and brash to all his friends, and sarcastic towards almost everyone else. He is desperately in love with Dee, but something happened the summer before between them and now things have drastically changed for both of them. Dee composes text messages and never sends them to James. James never really says what he is thinking to Dee, he just cracks jokes and makes her laugh. Both are new to the prestigious Thornking-Ash School, which only accepts those musicians with a very special gift. Unbeknownst to them, there is a reason both James and Dee are at this school and it involves Faeries. Nuala is a faerie who singles James out and promises James she will make him the best bagpiper but James continually turns her down, knowing she will eventually kill him. But things are changing for James, Dee and Nuala. There are evil forces at work, and Nuala finds herself caring more for James than killing him, James and his friend Paul keep hearing a hauntingly beautiful song that beckons them to the fields to watch an antlered faery king play his song of the dead and Dee seems to be keeping her text messages in her cell phone and not sent to James. The author of Shiver has done it again with complex characters, breathtaking scenes and heartbreaking life or death decisions. I can't wait to read, Lament!