NIGHTMARE

Teenager Emily Wood has had a recurring nightmare involving a place she cannot name, a dead woman, and a menacing presence. Although she’s deeply frightened by it, she feels unable to share the details with anyone. At school she lurks in the back row, hides behind a curtain of hair, and is labeled an underachiever. Her concerned parents are now sending her to a special summer camp where a renowned educator promises to “cure” her. The camp and the people who work there turn out to be the participants in Emily’s nightmare and she is in danger from the murderer. Eccentric new friends help her find the answers. Nixon lays out the clues cleverly without resorting to overloading the reader with red herrings. The adult characters are somewhat one-dimensional, but after all that’s how teenagers see them. A taut, well-constructed mystery by a writer who will be missed. (Fiction. 12+)