Devilish /

Fast paced and very funny, this is the story of high-school senior Jane Jarvis, who gets in over her head--which isn't difficult because she's very short. She's also very smart, and when her best friend, Allison, starts acting oddly, it doesn't take Jane long to figure out that there's some unholy connection between Ally and mysterious Lanalee, a new girl at their Catholic school. Connection, indeed. As it turns out, Ally has sold her soul to junior devil Lanalee in exchange for popularity; however, Jane doesn't buy Ally's tearful confession. Boldly, she informs Lanalee that she will take Ally's place (she really thinks the whole thing is bunk). Bunk it is not, and soon enough Jane finds herself in the fight of (and for) her life. Johnson does a very clever thing here. She takes a typical high-school story about popularity (amusing enough in Jane's snarky voice) and turns it on its head when evil comes on the scene. Decorated in fine detail and well served by a terrific supporting cast, this page-turner will have high appeal and get great word-of-mouth. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2006 Booklist

Johnson's (13 Little Blue Envelopes) offbeat book mixes humor and drama, with uneven results. When her best friend, Allison, trades her soul for beauty and confidence, brilliant, feisty Jane must confront the demon to get it back. Jane even puts her own soul on the line by making a bet. At first Jane, who narrates, thinks new transfer student Lanalee is just toying with her misfit friend, but after Jane makes her own contract with the teen demon (she has to get her ex-boyfriend to kiss her before midnight on Halloween) the heroine discovers what a real risk she's taken. She must call upon her friends, as well as the "demon hunter," Brother Frank, from her school's faculty and her own strength to beat Lanalee and save her soul. There are memorable moments throughout the book, such as Jane's "official contract with a representative of the Satanic High Command" appearing written in flames in her textbook, and Brother Frank telling her, "Many large corporations are actually modeled on hell... The policies and organization are almost identical." A strange cast of characters including the sugar-obsessed Lanalee and an earnest 14-year-old boy who died over 100 years ago will keep readers putting the pieces together until the Halloween night showdown. Unfortunately, this final conflict feels anti-climatic, failing to utilize Jane's cunning. The ending zaps much of the energy from an otherwise creative, engaging book. Ages 14-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 8-11-Tiny senior-class genius/spitfire Jane Jarvis is seriously out of place in St. Teresa's Preparatory School for Girls in Providence, RI. Although she considers herself to be above the school's traditions, she wants to help her clueless best friend, Ally, obtain a good freshman sister at the annual Big-Little ceremony. Alas, when Ally forcefully vomits in front of the entire student body, she needs more than Jane's help. After a brief period of avoiding her schoolmates, all of a sudden she's cool, gorgeously attired, confident, and sophisticated. Well, everyone knows that high school is hell, so it makes semi-sense that demons abound, and Ally has sold her soul to one. Jane is determined to save her. Odd things start happening, from giant hailstorms to self-igniting textbooks, and Jane sadly bids farewell to her family and throws herself into mortal-and immortal-danger. Just when all seems lost, a believable plot twist ties the ends together. Well-developed characters are Johnson's forte, and readers will delight in meeting the heroine's friends and, especially, her family. The scenes in the Catholic high school are hilarious without making a mockery of religion (for example, Sister Rose Marie gives Jane a demerit for "lack of caution in adverse conditions" for rushing through the lobby when the power goes out). Buy multiple copies for your Johnson fans or you'll end up with a long reserve list.-Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(High School) YA chick lit is rife with vicious popular girls, but how many of them are actually satanic? Smart, cynical high school senior Jane initially admires Lanalee, the ultra-cool new sophomore at St. Teresa's Preparatory School for Girls. But, if the swarms of flies buzzing through the windows at morning assembly aren't enough of an omen, the unsettling makeover of Jane's hapless best friend Allison after Lanalee takes her under her wing gives Jane reason to suspect something is amiss. Has Allison really sold her soul to the devil, as she and Owen-a fourteen-year-old demon fighter from St. Teresa's brother school who happens to have been dead for over a hundred years-try to get Jane to believe? This shrewd, playful Faustian drama manages not to take itself too seriously while also delivering genuine chills and suspense. The demons-""There is no one Satan. Satan is kind of like a corporation,"" explains Owen-running amok in Jane's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, are both creepy and comical, and they certainly seem to know enough about chick lit conventions to stage an appropriately over-the-top final showdown between good and evil. It takes place at an invite-only Halloween dance and involves a battle over-what else?-a guy. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Feisty, rebellious and exceptionally smart, Jane would appear to be the last student at her strict Catholic high school to join in a fight with real demons from Hell. She constantly battles with the Sisters at her school. But when best friend Ally morphs overnight into a femme fatale and begins dating Jane's still-cherished ex-boyfriend Elton, Jane hits bottom. Lanalee, a new student, claims to have made a deal for Ally's soul, so Jane agrees to another deal: She'll trade her own soul for Ally's unless she can get Elton to kiss her by midnight on Halloween. Jane doesn't really believe it, but soon learns the danger is all too real. Although the subject matter would seem to fit the trash genre, Johnson writes with flair, intelligence and humor. Her characters are well-realized as she builds suspense as deftly as Stephen King. Great entertainment and hard to put down. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.