Book Review: The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young

The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young

Publisher: Atheneum

Publish Date: July 26, 2011

Hardcover, 304 pages 
Fiction, Young Adult
 ISBN: 978-1416959441

My Review:
First thoughts, this book is different.  This is not your average, everyday young adult novel.  This deals with some pretty heavy stuff and no it's not the first to take on heavy stuff.  There is suicide, abortion and other difficult situations, but this takes on mental health from the angle of the teenager realizes something is not right with herself.  And then add in the very scary fact of today's social media and how it can blow a situation out of proportion very quickly and make things very scary for a person.

I think Ms. Young does a wonderful job with this book.  I think she really hits the mark with the creation of Dani.  I immediately liked Dani and even when things looked grim for her I still liked her and wanted things to work out.  I also think Ms. Young did a great job handling the situations in this book, her research is stellar and the book comes across as being real feeling while still being entertaining.

If you are in the mood for a young adult book that is just "different", that is just the best way to describe The Babysitter Murders, then this is the book for you.  It reads very quickly and is an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon or evening reading.

My Rating: 4.0/5.0


About the Book:
Everyone has weird thoughts sometimes. But for seventeen-year-old Dani Solomon, strange thoughts have taken over her life. She loves Alex, the little boy she babysits, more than anything. But one day, she has a vision of murdering him that's so gruesome, she can't get it out of her mind. In fact, Dani's convinced that she really will kill Alex. She confesses the thoughts to keep him safe, setting off a media frenzy that makes "Dani Death" the target of an extremist vigilante group. 


Through the help of an uncoventional psychiatrist, Dani begins to heal her broken mind. But will it be too late? The people of her community want justice . . . and Dani's learning that some thoughts are better left unsaid.


About the Author: 
Janet Ruth Young is the author of The Opposite of Music. She lives in Gloucester, MA.

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FTC Information: I received this book through Teen Book Scene for an honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.