Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz, Laurie F. Stolarz

From the Publisher

High atop Hathorne Hill, near Boston, sits Danvers State Hospital. Built in 1878 and closed in 1992, this abandoned mental institution is rumored to be the birthplace of the lobotomy. On the eve of the hospital's demolition, six teens break in to spend the night and film a movie about their experiences. For Derik, it's an opportunity to win a filmmaking contest and save himself from a future of flipping burgers at his parents' diner. For the others, it's a chance to be on TV, or a night with no parents. But what starts as a dare quickly escalates into a nightmare. Behind the crumbling walls, down every dark passageway, and in each deserted room, they will unravel the mysteries of those who once lived there and the spirits who still might.

Publishers Weekly

An abandoned mental institution serves as the setting for this mildly scary novel, sort of a Breakfast Clubmeets Blair Witch Project. Senior year of high school finds Derik (La Playa) LaPointe (from Stolarz's Bleed) making a film in hopes of winning an internship at a reality-TV network. Derik assembles a cast of students from different cliques, then, with help from a classmate similarly obsessed with the Danvers State Hospital, sneaks everyone inside the condemned building and plans to film there overnight. Most of the characters are barely acquainted, and each has a different motive for participating in the project (the straight-A student needs to round out her resume to improve her chances at Harvard; the drama geek wants stardom; the outcast hopes to find traces of her grandmother, who died at Danvers). Exploring how these figures interact is the meat of the novel: they mature over the six or so hours encompassed in the book, pairing off and eventually becoming a team, looking out for one another and united in purpose. Although the action reads like a laundry list for a PG-13 horror movie-the timely discovery of a journal, rats, floors giving way when people step on them, etc.-a soupçon of mystery combines with supernatural overtones to move the plot along rapidly. The familiar story arc and devices comfortably contain the chills, entertaining the target audience without hitting any nerves. Ages 12-up. (Dec.)

VOYA

High-school senior Derik LaPointe's parents have his future planned for him. They expect him to take over the family business, a diner, which has been in the family for three generations. Derik, however, has other plans-he wants to be a filmmaker. Derik's ticket out of the "grease bucket," as he sees it, is by winning a filmmaking contest sponsored by a reality television show. The winner of the contest gets a summer internship. His idea is to create a film about Danvers State Hospital, an abandoned mental institution long-rumored to be haunted and about to be demolished in a week. Derik recruits five classmates, a motley cast of characters, to participate in his film. With camera in tow, the seniors break into the hospital late one night and their unforgettable escapade begins. This book contains many elements that have the makings of a good, bone-chilling story-an allegedly haunted, abandoned insane asylum and an adventurous, dissimilar group of teens. Rather than being scary, though, this title ends up being a clichTd bonding story, in which the incongruous characters connect because of this purportedly haunting experience. The characters, who tell the story from individual perspectives in alternate chapters, are flat and generic and beg to be more fully developed. The setting of the story is also lacking in development, as the spine-tingling sensation of being in a dark and forbidding environment is nearly void. Readers who expect a frightening story will be disappointed, as only the most fainthearted will find this book even remotely scary. Reviewer: Domina Daughtrey

Meredith RobbinsCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal

Gr 8-10
In this eerie, evocative ghost story, Stolarz sends five teens into that most beloved of horror-genre locations, the haunted house; here, however, it has been updated into a mental hospital, a change that enlivens the tale and contributes to its truly spooky tone. Each teen begins the overnight expedition with his or her own motivation. Derik hopes to make a film that will win a documentary competition, which might mean a ticket out of a life spent toiling in his parents' diner, and he enlists several classmates to participate in it. Class-clown Chet thinks exploring the hospital might be good for a few laughs-plus, it provides an escape from another night spent with his abusive, alcoholic father. Greta and Tony think only of being cast in Derik's film, which they hope will propel them to stardom. Bookish Liza needs to diversify the extracurricular activities on her college applications, and hopes the film project will fit the bill. And Goth-girl Mimi wants to uncover some evidence relating to her grandmother, who was committed to the institution years before. These motivations fade into the background, however, when the group begins to suspect that something-or someone-is trying to communicate with them, and that the hospital won't let them leave until they listen. Although the characters veer close to stereotypes at the outset, Stolarz infuses them with depth and complexity, revealed as each teen narrates in alternating chapters. Page-turning action, genuine scares, and a satisfying conclusion should make this a hit with teens, particularly those who enjoyed the suspense of Stolarz's "Blue Is for Nightmares" series (Flux).

Product Details