Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

Daisy Giordano is the odd one out in her family. Her mom is a psychic, and her two sisters are psychics, too. But Daisy doesn't have any powers, and her two sisters look down on her for it, thinking that she's a norm. Because of her lack of psychic powers, Daisy often feels left out from the special bond that her mother and sisters share. Her dad was a "norm", too, but he disappeared one day. Daisy's best friend at the time, Samantha Deveraux, spread the rumor that her father had run off with another woman, and that so hurt Daisy that she never forgave Samantha.

But the start of her junior year is weird. Samantha comes back from summer vacation looking like a dead girl, complete with a mini-coffin on wheels that she totes around with her everywhere. The only thing that Daisy can count on any more is her best friend Ryan, who's a Quarterback on the football team and super-hot. Daisy might be interested in him... if he wasn't already her friend... and interested in Samantha.

Things get even stranger when a girl is found dead, and Daisy's mom is called in to help on the case. Her mom, stumped, enlists the mind-reading powers of Daisy's older sister, Rose, to help her in the case. Poppy, Daisy's younger sister, is dismissive of Daisy's ability to do anything to help her mom solve the case, which makes Daisy angry. She'll just have to show them that she can help her mom, too, by investigating and solving the mystery before anyone else does!

But when the cheerleaders begin succumbing to a strange illness that none of the doctors at the local hospital can identify, Daisy finds herself recruited for the team by none other than the head cheerleader herself, her ex-best friend, Samantha! Daisy is suspicious of Samantha's motives, and also her stunning change practically overnight. Is it possible that Samantha could be the culprit she seeks? And what about that Ankh necklace she's been sporting? Does that have something to do with the whole thing? And now Samantha has given them to all the cheerleaders as gifts. Nothing suspicious there, right?

Daisy gets her friend Ryan to help her, and before she knows it, they are kissing, and she has to check to see that her feet are still firmly fastened to the ground! But when they wander into a meeting of the secret supernatural council that really controls the town of Nightshade, they find that the council believes it is a special type of vampire that is attacking the girls... a soul-eating, life-sucking vampire!

But who could it be? And can Daisy find out while struggling through Cheerleading practice, the big game and homecoming? And is there any chance for her and her hottie friend Ryan to find true love, or even "right now" love?

I loved this book. The heroine's voice is fresh and expressive without being whiny, spoiled or neurotic, and the author makes you really feel what is going on with the character and immerses you in her troubles and concerns so that you as the reader identify with Daisy. At the same time, the story is intriguing and engaging, drawing you in from, literally, the very first sentence. Not only did I finish this small book in about an hour and a half, but I am looking forward to reading the forthcoming sequel, "Dead is a State of Mind", but the one after that, "Dead is so Last Year".

For a book that is entertaining without being vapid, smart without being boring, and speaks in a voice that is authentically teen without insulting any teens reading the book, you can't do better than "Dead is the New Black" by Marlene Perez. Read it, and you'll be glad you did!