School Library Journal (Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2014)

Gr 9 Up-Block returns with a haunting ghost story set in her beloved Los Angeles. In the course of a few months, Julie has lost everything. Her grandmother died. Her mother lost her job, and subsequently their house. And Julie's been forced to move into a cramped two-bedroom apartment in a new school district while her mother goes through a midlife crisis that involves dating an aging metalhead. When she meets Clark, an enigmatic and peculiar senior, the two form an instant connection until Julie convinces him to help her contact her dead grandmother via an old Ouija board. Unfortunately, their misguided attempt has lasting and haunting repercussions when a malevolent ghost possesses Clark's body. Suddenly, the teens are running all over Los Angeles trying to find herbs and roses to cleanse Clark of this spirit before he's lost forever. Told in Block's signature, flowing prose, Teen Spirit is a layered story that's more about grief than it is about ghosts. Julie's narration is fast paced and accessible; readers won't be bogged down by intricate plots or complex ghost mythology. This is just a story about two kids learning to deal with loss. Julie realizes she cannot cling to the dead; she must hold her grandmother in her heart as she tries to live her own life. A beautiful story from a legendary young adult author. Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJ

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Poetry and pop culture, life and death-these are just two of the polarities that pulse through Block-s elegantly crafted novel. When Julie-s beloved grandmother Miriam dies, Julie-s life turns upside down. After she and her mother move from their cozy Hollywood cottage to a bleak apartment in Beverly Hills, Julie starts her senior year at a new high school. There she meets sweetly eccentric Clark, who is also mourning a loss. Their easy friendship grows complicated once Julie gets to know Grant, Clark-s beguiling, bad-boy twin. As Julie and Clark navigate their grief and forge a path through quotidian high-school life, Block (Love in the Time of Global Warming) makes a refreshing case for the virtues of the nice guy. Julie and Clark are fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and between the ghost-centric plot and Julie-s strained relationship with her mother, Block-s novel could pass for an episode of the show. While the spooky goings-on, eerie romance, and magical-hipster Los Angeles setting have broad appeal, the story has even richer treasures in store for readers who dig deeper. Ages 14-up. Agent: Laurie Liss, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Feb.)

ALA Booklist (Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

After the death of her beloved grandmother, Julie, 17, and her mom try to pick up the pieces. Julie does it by befriending quirky weirdo Clark, and her mother by reentering the dating scene, courtesy of aging rocker Luke. With Clark in tow, Julie busts out a Ouija board to contact her grandmother, but the ghost that shows up instead is specific to Clark til the ghost develops a lustful taste for Julie, too. It may sound like standard paranormal romantic stuff, but if we've learned anything from Block's takes on vampires (Pretty Dead, 2009) and dystopia (Love in the Time of Global Warming, 2013), it's that nothing she does is standard. Classic Blockian traits are in place: a kitschy, palm-tree-decked California wonderland; a guileless sweetness spiked with moments of grittiness and sexuality; and characters steeped in time-sensitive pop culture in a way that feels timeless. All that said, this coasts on charm a bit while the plot works itself out along expected lines. But readers who are already grooving to Block's tune will love it.

Horn Book (Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

While grieving the death of her grandmother, offbeat Julie befriends Clark, an outcast with troubles of his own. Hoping to soothe her pain, Julie and a reluctant Clark call upon spirits with a Ouija board, but their mystical meddling opens a dangerous supernatural can of worms. An eerie tension permeates this story's lush Hollywood landscape, but Julie's detached narration isn't always convincing.