Rosebush

Jaffe (Bad Kitty) has honed her craft with several adult thrillers, and that's a big benefit for a story that is superficially identical to a slew of recent YA novels featuring innocent heroines sucked into the popularity trap by rich girls with evil hearts. Jaffe, too, presents the de rigueur litany of designer names and cliquey cruelties, and there's no surprise when the villain is unveiled. Where this story distinguishes itself is in character development. Jane Freeman is a believable adolescent, trivial and thoughtless most of the time, but capable of insight and empathy when she stops to think. And trapped in an ICU bed after a near-fatal hit and run, Jane has a lot of time to do just that. She also seems to have company, as eerie threats from a "secret admirer" appear in her hospital room. Jaffe fully develops the evolution of Jane's situation and the piecemeal return of her memories after her trauma-induced amnesia fades. Even when adults around Jane question her sanity, readers will continue to trust this character who has been so thoroughly and sympathetically unfolded. Ages 12–up. (Dec.)