Deception (Haunting Emma) by Lee Nichols Grades 8+ 336 pages Bloomsbury USA June 2010 Hardcover     When Emma’s parents leave on yet another business trip and don’t return, Emma is left to fend for herself - at least until a so-called friend tips off Social Services. Now Emma is about to become a ward of the state. Enter Bennett Stern, handsome college boy turned guardian, who whisks Emma away from trendy California to his affluent New England home, which also happens to be a museum. Bennett enrolls Emma in prestigious Thatcher Academy where the strange history of the place seems alive –or dead. Confronted by people she thinks are in period costume, Bennett soon reveals that Emma is a Ghostkeeper, able to see and connect with ghosts. She soon learns the mysterious disappearance of her family is in direct correlation with her gift. But what happens when this novice Ghostkeeper stumbles upon a murderous evil entity hell-bent on framing her family? Ghosts. Romance. Mystery. All three are delightfully woven together in this frightening yet entertaining first book in the Haunting Emma series by Lee Nichols. Although Deception is her first young adult novel, Nichols is no stranger to the book biz with five adult novels already under her belt. In the meantime, beware the next two books in this series. Betrayal releases in March 2011, and Possession will follow that fall. I’ve no doubt that Deception will leave you dying for more.     web reviews   Niki Masse Schoenfeldt/2010 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)