New Kid on the Block

Horror High #4

by Nicholas Adams

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here.

Cresswell High has a new exchange student. But Amanda is not who she claims to be. When a boy is found dead in the woods, Elizabeth Henley puts the clues together to conclude that Amanda is a dangerous impostor.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1991

About the author

Nicholas Adams is a collective pen name created by Daniel Weiss Associates and used by several authors of YA horror written in the 1990s. These include John Peel, James D. MacDonald and Debra Doyle, and Sherwood Smith.

Reviews

[Grace Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WOULD'VE BEEN 4 STARS IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE CRAPPY RUSHED ENDING.

I really loved this story of murder and switched identities. This sweetly naive girl Amanda is escaping her abusive guardians, bus-bound to her penpal's fancy home in Cresswell. A new life awaits her, and she's stoked to begin school at HORROR HIGH--err, I mean, Cresswell High, and finally getting to meet her cherished penpal Liz in person. All of that is thwarted when she meets some evil bitch named Stephanie that gets on the bus. Stephanie is also trying to run away from her previous life, and after hearing Amanda's story and learning of her opportunity, decides to kill her and steal her identity...so SHE can be the one starting the new, fancier life instead 😭😭

I was totally absorbed into this story, like I said...until the super abrupt ending. As the last few pages drew near, I actually felt acute anxiety as I wondered OKAY HOW THE HELL IS THE AUTHOR GONNA WRAP THIS ALL UP, THE FREAKING BOOK IS ABOUT TO END. I am determined to track down Nicholas Adams the author and yell at him to write a more detailed and emotionally satisfying ending, please and thank you.

3 out of 5 whacks on the head for this one...2 for the poor murder victims, who didn't see it coming. And 1 for me as a disgruntled, sourpuss reader. 💀

[Erica Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though you know where it’s going—right in the beginning—it’s still fun to see it all play out. It is refreshing reading about and seeing the POV of a main character who’s the Bad Guy—in this case, a girl stealing the identity of a more wholesome, innocent girl who she’s…conveniently gotten rid of—and some of the high school friendship + relationship drama that comes along with trying to keep up the charade.

Low body count and the kills aren’t creative, but I suppose I can accept the head bonks and identity theft.

I do find it hard to believe that someone would invite a penpal over to live with her and her family, and even offer to enroll her in her school. Like, Elizabeth. Was that really a good idea? You invited a legit stranger into your home based on handwritten exchanges and you don’t even know what she’s supposed to look like.

Richard deserved the head bonk, sorry. I know he’s painted as a dopey cute boy with a crush, but he literally stalked “Amanda” and came on kinda strong at the dance.

Climax was very rushed and a bit of a letdown. For once, I wish it had ended on an ambiguous note. I wasn’t exactly rooting for Stephanie, but it would’ve been more interesting to imagine our main character continuing her identity spree.

[J.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie is looking for a fresh start after ditching her criminal ex boyfriend. She gets the perfect chance when she meets a girl named Amanda who's going to stay with a penpal in Cresswell.

Stephanie quickly realizes just how tough impersonating Amanda can be.

A cool story idea that I really liked. There were a couple things I didn't like though…

The transitions between characters are not separated very well. The POV switches suddenly in between chapters which is a bit annoying. Also the ending felt a bit abrupt and rushed.

I'm noticing with this series that the beginnings seem to be a bit dragged out (for a novella), and all the action is crammed in at the end. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I would like a bit more action in the beginning.

Would have been 5 stars if not for the quick ending.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

* Amanda is moving south from Canada where she lives with an aunt and uncle who don't want her. She's going to stay with her penpal Elizabeth in Cresswell.
* On the bus she meets a girl called Stephanie and tells her far too much information about hers.
* Stephanie makes them get off the bus a stop too early takes Amanda to a pa4k where she kills her and buries her.
* Stephanie goes to Cresswell pretending to be Amanda but Elizabeth thinks that something is off about her.
* She's eventually discovered when she kills a student at her new school, and buries him too.
- Poor Amanda! Being murdered for trusting a stranger!

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to four.

I have to admit that reading the back of the book, it looked like this would be a pretty good book.

Kind of bad, trashy tv movie vibes which I absolutely love with some big, twisty end like a 1990s thriller.

A lot of promise but delivered less than stellar status.

Now I apologize for any spoilers but the book couldn't care less that you know from the get go what is going on.

Amanda MacKenzie is on a bus to Creswell (which is in New England) all the way from New Brunswick in Canada to stay with her pen pal Elizabeth Henley for her senior year attending school.

Amanda has had it rough since her parents died in an accident and she had to stay with her aunt and uncle. They spent up all the money Amanda's parents left for her and her mother's sister is always slapping the girl around.

This arrangement is not guardian approved - Amanda is running away. She brought her transcripts to get enrolled without any trouble and if there is, Elizabeth has everything under control. Yep, both of these girls planned this out through letters. The only snag they couldn't count on was Stephanie Rendall running away from her no-good boyfriend Ted Dorak showing up on the same bus.

Stephanie use to be a good girl but fell in love with the wrong guy and ended up helping him commit robberies and found it was too late to break things off. Ted threatened to tell her parents about everything so now she is on the run and she develops a perfectly hideous plan to start a new life once she happens upon Amanda across the aisle.

Good hearted Amanda doesn't know how desperate Stephanie is and puts all her trust in the wrong person is all I really have to say...

This, BTW, is how the first six chapters of the book go...

Elizabeth is a little worried when she misses Amanda at the bus station and returns home to her parents urging her to call Amanda's aunt and uncle in Canada. Afraid it will compromise everything they planned, Elizabeth is saved by a knock at the door which happens to be Amanda yet we already know it is Stephanie.

Having strict guardians and living in a tiny, Canadian town it seems that Amanda never was able to send Elizabeth a picture of herself so the whole Henley family doesn't realize that they have let a teenage murderer in their home. Having all of the letters, Stephanie knows enough info to brush up on despite chatterbox Amanda having told her everything and showing her enough to keep up this ruse.

Too bad that Stephanie is not as wholesome as Amanda and some of her snark pushes through about a charm bracelet that falls out of Amada's purse. She tells Elizabeth she can have the piece of junk as she has grown tired of it after hearing her breath of appreciation but it was actually out of happiness.

It was a gift to Amanda for her birthday from Elizabeth that she sent with one of her letters - oops.

Stephanie backpedals that it was a joke but it is so mean-spirited that Elizabeth can already tell something is different from the girl she has been talking to through letters for about a year. Smart girl but she makes excuses for the attitude for awhile but soon Elizabeth can't keep fooling herself.

Her first day at school, Stephanie tells off a boy named Richard Tibbs flirting with her and mouths off under her breath to the Honors English teacher when he gives her a hard time.

This isn't the Amanda that Elizabeth knows and things just become even more complicated when the body is found in the woods...

I won't give away anything else but the pace of the story just seems to rush on from there with only a few interesting elements but there really is no reveal...no twist...no exciting climax.

Seriously? Yes...seriously.

Not even a quip and the only feeling you have is bitter sadness.

New Kid On The Block doesn't really measure up to the first three books in the Horror High series or, IMHO, the latter ones but I only have one more book to go to judge the whole series.

If you are curious for having never read this one yourself, it is worth a read but I wouldn't see this getting a second read from me...

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Horror High read, so I have no idea if there's a continuity to this series a la Fear Street or if every entry is just set in an unrelated high school. My typical complaint about YA books (of pretty much every genre) is that they are too long, with authors bulking up their page counts not because they have more story to tell but simply because the market demands a longer book, which leads you as a reader to feel like the plot is spinning its wheels. New Kid on the Block is the rare book I can criticize for its brevity; nearly half the book is just setup, leading the back half to rush through its conflicts and fail to build as much dramatic tension or character nuance as it might. I find this less frustrating than books that are too long, because at least I never felt like my time was being wasted.

Point Horror books (and the like) often owe a debt to noir, and this book wears that influence on its sleeve: Stephanie is pure femme fatale. I liked the fact that she wasn't a Bad Seed type, like a lot of the female psycho villains in these books who operate only as plot devices. She's all too human. Her actions are atrocious, but she has to hype herself up for them, and she feels some semblance of guilt--perhaps even remorse--afterward. She's not some axe-crazy lunatic, living a delusion and slaughtering without thought. She's just entitled, believing she is owed the same good fortune she sees others experience without doing anything to earn it. She doesn't lack empathy so much as she suppresses it, spinning convoluted webs of self-justification in her mind to avoid taking accountability for herself. Haven't I had a difficult life? Don't I deserve a break just as much as this vapid, naive girl sitting on the bus next to me? Just one more unpleasant deed, and then everything will be all right....

Elizabeth, by comparison, is a bit boring, but there is something intriguing about the way that her suspicions of Stephanie/Amanda might be motivated as much by jealousy and frustration as actual evidence. From her perspective it was probably a lot more likely that her pen pal just turned out to be a crappier person in real life than the Platonic ideal Elizabeth had built up in her head from Amanda's (potentially manufactured) persona, as conveyed through her letters. There's a version of this story where Amanda does turn out to be herself rather than an impostor, and Elizabeth just can't accept the reality of a flawed human being existing in place of the docile sister-surrogate she'd mentally constructed for herself. I suppose that wouldn't be too exciting as the basis for a psycho thriller...unless Elizabeth is the one who snaps.

Anyway, never trust a guy named Ted.

[ATSNightshade · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had so much potential. I could see the entire thing play out in my head, honestly it would make a great movie.
But the writing felt super rushed and the ending was so much of a let down that i literally missed it (had to read the last page again because i legit did not see it). I also felt like the characters didn't have enough depth and personality.
Another issue i had was obviously how old it felt but then again it's my fault for reading it 30 years too late.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

They have been planning this for almost a year. Her pen pal is coming to stay with her and her parents for a semester. She finally gets into town but she is nothing like her letters seemed to let on she would be. Is she just shy or hiding something more sinister?

[D.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was rushed and just anti-climactic as heck. Otherwise, it was a decent story.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay book. I couldn't stand the ending though. I mean it just ended with so many unanswered questions. It seemed like it ended quickly like the author didn't know how to end it. Everything else leading to the ending was good though.