One Past Midnight

April 28, 2014
Every night just after midnight, Sabine “Shifts” between two lives, living every day twice as two different girls. In one, she leads a privileged life in Wellesley, Mass.; in the other, Sabine lives in nearby Roxbury with a working-class family. Sabine is understandably exhausted by this situation, and begins to consider killing off one of her lives, shifting to the other at the last possible second. After Sabine confesses her double life to her Roxbury parents, they immediately have her committed and put on suicide watch. This puts her in the way of handsome nurse-in-training Ethan, who might believe Sabine and be willing to help. Shirvington (Entice) gooses the premise by placing Sabine in high-tension situations (such as being on the brink of death or being physically abused) just as she Shifts, effectively pausing the fallout for a full day while Sabine spends time in her other life. Conveniences abound, beginning with the close proximity of Sabine’s two lives and concluding with a too-neat ending, which arrives in the wake of a melodramatic twist. Ages 14–up. Agent: Selwa Anthony Literary Management.

May 1, 2014
A girl lives two lives-literally-in this paranormal romance with a psychological twist.Sabine is 18 in both of her lives. She lives with her financially struggling family in the Roxbury district of Boston half the time. At midnight every night she Shifts into her other life to live the same day over again with her wealthy family in upscale Wellesley. Sabine wants to live only one life, preferably in Wellesley with her friends and longtime perfect boyfriend, Dex, even though she realizes she isn't in love with him. Suddenly, physical changes in one life no longer carry over into the other, and she decides to explore killing herself in her Roxbury life so she can live only her Wellesley life. Events go awry, however, and her parents, believing her to be mentally ill when she tells them the truth about her two lives, have her committed to a hospital. There, she meets Ethan, a medical student, to whom she begins to grow close. Shirvington keeps her interesting paranormal concept slightly vague: Does Sabine simply cross into a parallel universe, or does some other supernatural force cause her shifts? Could she simply be mentally ill? Sabine's Roxbury life seems more interesting than the Wellesley one; it provides suspense, whereas the Wellesley story is more chick-lit friendly.The intriguing paranormal twist keeps pages turning. (Paranormal romance. 12-18)

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May 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-Sabine has everything: the perfect house, the perfect friends, the perfect car. Everything is exactly as it should be for the 18-year-old queen bee reigning supreme in her wealthy Boston suburb. However, every night at midnight, she Shifts to her other life where she has nothing: an increasingly difficult family life, hard relationships with peers, an unrewarding after school job in an as-yet-to-be gentrified Boston suburb. Sabine has two lives-living each day twice-and has kept it a secret for as long as she can remember. That is, until she meets Ethan. By developing a rich and nuanced mythology of Sabine's experience, Shirvington invites readers to consider what it means to struggle with the social pressures of being a teenager. The short, action-packed chapters move readers swiftly from day to day and life to life. The story is fresh and focused and would be a welcome addition. A complex and compelling tale.-Pete Smith, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts CPS, South Hadley, MA

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