scary books across age ranges, including a Stonewall Honor title, a Lammy Award Finalist, an Indies Introduce pick, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, alongside multiple starred reviews. When not writing, she can be found taking too many photos of her cats, training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, actively avoiding real life scary situations, and working on their true goal of becoming a Pokémon trainer.
Winans applied the Page 69 Test to their new novel, Your Boyfriend Needs an Exorcist, and reported the following:
Page 69 of Your Boyfriend Needs an Exorcist follows 15-year-old Schuyler Thompson, a ghost possessing the body of 17-year-old Enzo Altamura, in school for the first time since her before her death--quite some time before.Visit Justine Pucella Winans's website.Really, I'm completely overwhelmed. It's total sensory overload. The school is almost exactly the same as I remember it in some ways, like the general layout, shitty lighting, lack of windows in the hallway, and noise levels, but there's also so much that's different.While I don't think page 69 gives a complete sense of the book as a whole, I think it gives an excellent sense of the voice and character, and the humor (and maybe unfortunate nature) of our protagonist's situation. Through this glimpse into Schuyler's story, we get a sense that she is a fish-out-of-water in a lot of ways. We can gather that she has died, has been dead for sometime, and is somehow thrust back into high school life in someone else's body, through this small struggle to stay afloat in her math class. I think this does set up the basic concept of the book, showing that while it is in a Young Adult contemporary setting, there is at least something supernatural going on!
I don't have textbooks, I have e-textbooks on an assigned tablet that is indeed in my backpack. I'm not used to reading on a screen, and it takes me too long to figure out how to turn down the brightness setting so I can skim the last chapter my math book is open to.
Damn, I barely remember anything I learned when I was alive. Even if I did, I'm not sure it's the same math I had been learning. It feels different, almost entirely new. Can math change? I died at the end of sophomore year and Enzo is a senior, so this is too advanced for me, regardless. I almost wish Vinny hadn't been lying about helping me with schoolwork. I'll definitely need it.
"You need to copy answers?" one of the dudes next to me asks.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks..." I trail off awkwardly. I don't know the names of any of Enzo's friends. It's not like they ever came over to Wren's place, and none of the contacts in his phone had pictures attached. "Bro."
"No problem, bro."
Well, at least that worked.
The parts that can't be gleaned from page 69 alone are some of the book's dark, horror elements. There is a lot of comedy in this book, and I think this page gives a glimpse of that potential, but without saying any spoilers, things definitely take a turn into bloody, body horror territory. For better or worse, this page alone may not prepare readers for the gore and difficult subjects that arise through Schuyler's accidental possession of Enzo. (I did write an author's note at the beginning of the book for that reason!)
However, as a reader, sometimes I find that the character voice is what matters most when it comes to giving a book a chance. Maybe this school-set page doesn't get into the scariest parts of the book, or even the silliest parts of the book, but I do think (and hope) it does a great job of introducing readers to Schuyler, and the general conflict she faces due to the premise. It sets up the story to be a kind of supernatural Freaky Friday, which isn't totally off base! There is definitely more depth to Schuyler and her struggles throughout the book, but this is a great little glimpse into the general concept and characterization. I find it to be a successful Page 69 Test and hope readers feel the same way!
Q&A with Justine Pucella Winans.
--Marshal Zeringue
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