Everlost by Neal Shusterman

I haven't been reading much young adult lit recently, and I've never been much of a fantasy person (with some exceptions). But I've kind of always had a waxing/waning affinity for YA fantasy. I love it when an author can create an entirely new world, a world that is entirely different from the reality I know and yet makes such perfect sense that it seems like it ought to exist. When I was little, I wanted to be able to step through the back of our coat closet into Narnia so much that it was almost painful, and even though I no longer feel a longing for the books to become reality, I still love watching an author create an entire world.

The world of Everlost is not the kind of world you'd like to find on the other side of your coat closet. It's a space between life and death, populated by children (no adults) who haven't quite crossed over and find themselves in a shadowy reality that coexists with the world itself. They are basically ghosts, unable to interact with, or even walk around, the living world that surrounds them, except for the bright, solid places that have, for various reasons, passed into the in-between world: long-dead forests that once inspired poets, for instance, or the two bright, solid towers that still stand in the New York City of Everlost.

Nick and Allie are two young teenagers who are thrust into Everlost when they fail to survive a head-on car accident, and the story follows their two, interconnected journeys. The book is intended to be the first of a trilogy, but is a strong first installment in that it can stand entirely on its own. It lays out the world and its rules, introduces complex characters, and takes surprising turns. Children's and YA novels have become much more morally ambiguous than they once were (and as a consequence, much more believable), and Shusterman handles the motivations of his characters particularly well. His characters learn and grow and find themselves at odds with each other and make poor decisions for good reasons, and good decisions as well.

My sister and I read Everlost aloud in the car on our cross-country road trip. It was a perfect road trip book, and I think we both really enjoyed it. It was creative and interesting and well-crafted. I liked how the book ended, and didn't feel the need to complete the trilogy, though I wouldn't be opposed to doing so if I ever get around to it.