Stranger with My Face
by
Lois Duncan (Goodreads Author)
Have you ever been haunted by the feeling that someone is spying on you, lurking around your house and yard, even entering your bedroom? Are your friends plotting against you when they say they've seen you do things you know you haven't done? What's going on -- and does Laurie really want to find out?
ALA Best Book for Young Adults--1981
New York Times Outstanding Book of th...more
ALA Best Book for Young Adults--1981
New York Times Outstanding Book of th...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
October 15th 1982
by Laurel Leaf
(first published 1981)
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I read this book years and years ago. In fact, I wasn't sure I had actually read it until I saw the summary of it in Bitch magazine.
It's a really creepy premise. A teenage girl is doing astral projection and while she's out of her body, the sister she didn't know she had slips her spirit into the vacated body. Well, something like that happens. I may have the details wrong about who the girl who slips into the body is. In any case, the protagonist is floating around in spirit, watching some othe...more
It's a really creepy premise. A teenage girl is doing astral projection and while she's out of her body, the sister she didn't know she had slips her spirit into the vacated body. Well, something like that happens. I may have the details wrong about who the girl who slips into the body is. In any case, the protagonist is floating around in spirit, watching some othe...more
I read every one of these books I could find in the library in elementary school and junior high. Trashy yet enthralling. I associate them with the period of time I was convinced I could have superpowers if only I tried hard enough. I really really wanted paranormal powers-- particularly telekinesis. If it could happen to the girls in these books.. why not me?
im on page 197 laurie found out after 17 yrs that she was living a lye. her mom and dad have ben hiding that she has a twin sister lia that was seperated from birth and lived in new mexico whille laurie is in nyc. if she thought it couldnt get any worse it did. she adopted! and her family is party idian (her bilogical familyy) plus since her idian sister can visit her with special idian beliefs. lia has ben hurting and trying 2 kill laurie freind so laurie and lia are the only ones that stick 2g...more
I haven't read this book in a very long time. But I first discovered it when I was probably 10-years-old and I just kept taking it out of the library! I knew exactly where it was, what shelf it was on and it was ALWAYS there waiting for me. The librarians used to look at me and say, "Well there you go again Paula." This was my first introduction to science fiction (at least in book form) and it was awesome! What if your friends suddenly started acting strange and told you you did things that you...more
Laurie has an imposter who has been intervening in her life and not in a good way. She is confused and frightened as to who the stranger is that has been impersonating her. She comes to find out that she has a twin named Lia and that she was adopted. She confronts her mom, who denies it, but eventually admits that she was adopted. She tells Laurie that when she adopted her, she held the other twin and she felt cold, so she only adopted Laurie. Laurie's friend warns her that she seems evil, but L...more
Lois Duncan is a huge name in the literary world, who has written many, (many, many) books and received many (manymanymany) awards. I Know What You Did Last Summer may be her most recognizable. However, I can't remember reading any of her books growing up, but I recognized her name when I picked up this audio book in the library. My other reasons for checking this out were 1) We don't have a huge selection in our library and 2) It was earmarked as Supernatural. I'm not sure I would really recomm...more
Stranger with my Face is about two sisters, who are twins separated during their childhood. One of the twins, Laurie, lives a much better life than Lia. In their blood, they have the genes that allow them to be able to perform a magical skill called Austral Projection. With this skill, Lia's spirit departs its body and visits Laurie every night. Laurie, who is incapable of the existence of a twin sister, fights to solve the mystery of this stranger who haunts her every night.
The text of this boo...more
The text of this boo...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I'm a big fan of YA lit. I like to re-read the books I read growing up. It's nostalgic. Lois Duncan is one of my absolute favourite YA authors. I was beyond horrified when "I Know What You Did Last Summer" was turned into a film - and even more horrified by the sequel and the third part, which never existed in book format. Despite all of that, her suspenseful books are incredible. This particular title is a favourite of mine, however, I enjoy all of her books. I contacted her a few years ago to...more
This is the second Lois Duncan reissue I've read recently, and I was much more impressed with the quality of this book than I was with I Know What You Did Last Summer. Stranger with My Face is better written and more engrossing, and I found the ending of this story much more convincing than the resolution of Last Summer. This edition of Stranger features what the back-cover copy calls "modernized text." The author herself has tried to update the text by sprinkling in stray mentions of cell phone...more
I thought Stranger With My Face was great. I liked how the author created so much suspense. You just kept wanting to keep reading and reading. The story took place on an island which the main character Laurie, and her family lived. Laurie was hearing strange voices and the people that were close to her in her life were claiming they saw her doing things she wasn’t doing. It turns out Laurie has a twin sister and that Laurie was adopted. Laurie’s twin sister was haunting Laurie. She grew very mea...more
Everyone has felt, at one time or another, that they were being watched. Seventeen-year-old Laurie Stratton was right. Someone is not only watching her, but also pretending to be her. Her friends claim to see her in places she has never been, and her family sees her around the house when she’s been at school all day. Then the copycat starts appearing in reflections and dreams. She talks to Laurie and she looks exactly like her. Laurie soon finds out that she was adopted, and that the ghost who’s...more
I think this might be one of the only Lois Duncan books I didn't read as a kid. I'm wondering if I would have liked it more then, or if this is just one of her weaker books.
The edition I read was on my library's new releases shelf and had been recently republished with "modernized language". Nothing really jumped out at me as being modern though, except the very few references to a laptop or a cell phone. Since having that technology would ruin the plot, the author had to make the excuse that n...more
The edition I read was on my library's new releases shelf and had been recently republished with "modernized language". Nothing really jumped out at me as being modern though, except the very few references to a laptop or a cell phone. Since having that technology would ruin the plot, the author had to make the excuse that n...more
Laurie is a normal girl, though she notices she looks nothing like her siblings or parents. It isn't until people start seeing her places she hasn't been that she learns a secret that had been kept from her for so long. Who is this stranger taking over Laurie's life, and why does she look so much like her?
Although decently written, this novel is full of cliches and obvious overshadowing. By the fourth chapter, I already knew what was going to happen. What's the fun it that? Everything that was c...more
Although decently written, this novel is full of cliches and obvious overshadowing. By the fourth chapter, I already knew what was going to happen. What's the fun it that? Everything that was c...more
This was a good Halloween season read. My favorite Lois Duncan book she has written of this genre is 'Down a Dark Hall', but this was just as enjoyable. Considering the amount of sketchy para-normal storylines flooding teen fiction these days, this is a well writen and concise story about astral-projection (something I knew nothing about until reading this book) and how even though people are born as twins, can have opposite personalities and take opposite paths in life. I think had I read this...more
In one word - Freaky! I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this story! It was really scary in a neat way. I totally freaked when she was sitting in front of the mirror and her image smiled at her and she realized that she herself was NOT smiling! Ohhhh I love it when things like that happens in movies and it sent a chill over me while reading it here as well!
I despised Laurie's so called friends and boyfriend. I'm like all they had to do if they cared at all was ask her family if she had be...more
I despised Laurie's so called friends and boyfriend. I'm like all they had to do if they cared at all was ask her family if she had be...more
Article first published as Book Review: Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan on Blogcritics.
One of my all-time favorite books is The Third Eye by Lois Duncan. I’ve read this book at least half a dozen times since I first read it in high school. Funnily enough, I haven’t read any of Duncan’s better known books, like Stranger with My Face, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Killing Mr. Griffin.
I finally got a hold of a copy of Stranger with My Face, and it was so exciting that I finished readi
...more
This is the first suspense book that I can remember reading, and I borrowed it from the library at my junior high school. (Nancy Drew mysteries don't really count.) I fell in love with the book and the concept of astral projection and have never forgotten about it. Y-E-A-R-S later Lois Duncan's name caught my attention while watching "Hotel for Dogs" at the movie theater. I never realized how many books she's written that I'd heard of already. Amazing. So, I swapped for a copy of this book and...more
Things have been strange for Laurie lately. Her boyfriend's mad at her because he says he saw her out when she said she was home sick. (Except...Laurie really WAS sick.) And she could swear that sometimes, she feels someone in her room---but nobody's there. So what's going on?
I think this is my second favorite Lois Duncan book (behind Locked In Time) and it's just really, really creepy. (The last chapter, especially, makes my skin crawl every time I think about it.)
Would people notice if you wer...more
I think this is my second favorite Lois Duncan book (behind Locked In Time) and it's just really, really creepy. (The last chapter, especially, makes my skin crawl every time I think about it.)
Would people notice if you wer...more
Laurie Stratton gets sick right before the big party at the end of the summer. Yes, the party that will cement her status in the popular group, which she became a part of when she started dating her totally gorgeous boyfriend at the beginning of the summer. The next day at school her boyfriend claims to have seen her on the beach the night before and accuses her of cheating, her parents claim they see her come home when she was at school the whole day. What’s going on? Who or what is out there p...more
I thought Stranger with My Face was a good book. Lois Duncan does a great job of giving details. In this book, the main character Laurie discovers she’s adopted and has a twin sister. How did she find out? Her sister told her by astral projection which is where your soul leaves your body but you don’t die. Laurie is scared at first because this stranger that looks like her is coming in her room and looking at her and appearing in dreams. The stranger told Laurie that she is her sister. Laurie as...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
OH MAN it crushes my poor cold heart to sand to have to tell you this, because I used to borrow this book from the library over and over and over when I was in fifth grade and it's one of the things that really made me like books so goddam much, but it's just all about like "Native American people are mysterious and magical," which is not an okay theme. So sad! I was so stoked when I found it in a little used bookstore in Kokomo Indiana, because when I was little I think I just thought Laurie St...more
This book I read over the summer. It was really scary and I actually had to read it at night because in the book this person comes to the girl in the middle of the night. It was actually pretty good it's just that I couldn't read it in certain places or at night. I also thought it was a strange concept for a book because of the many twists and turns that happen between this poor girl and her best friend. As the book goes on the story becomes more of a mystery and into a sci-fi story instead of r...more
Watching Insidious reminded me of this book, and I had to go re-read it. I thought my memories were only vague -- that it involved a girl living on an island who was being visited by a malicious, estranged sibling who could astral project. But it turned out that's exactly what it's about and not much more. Good YA fiction, though in the age of Harrys and Katnises, it doesn't stand up quite so well, and the end is a bit anti-climatic, especially after a truly creepy and anxious build up. Also, ap...more
Summer Reading Book 3: This book is about a 16 year old girl named Laurie. She so far has a perfect life with an amazing boyfriend and a great group of friends. Things start to fall apart for Laurie when her boyfriend keeps telling her he has seen her with other guys, and her friends keep telling her they have seen her in places Laurie has never been to. Laurie starts believing that she has a twin. She investiages this online and she was right and her twin sister Lia was a foster child. Lia and...more
I didn't remember reading this book as a child, but once I started listening to it (I did the audio CD of this on my commute) I realized I had read this before. I remembered pieces of the story and knew how it would turn out. However, I don't remember being so bored by it. Maybe it's the difference in my taste in elementary school and my taste now...but I felt like it dragged on and more than once I said "just shut up!" when the main character went on one of her rambles.
I'm glad to be done wit...more
I'm glad to be done wit...more
Stranger with My Face is a ridiculous story that I imagine has not aged particularly well, although I did admittedly love it in middle school. From it, I learned the important lesson that sisters shouldn't be trusted, especially if they're your secret twins, because they're actually evil and want to steal your body through astral projection and leave you to rot in a mental hospital. Unless they're adopted sisters, in which case they will recognize that you've been possessed and save you from you...more
This was really interesting back when I read it in high school. At that time, the theme or plot of the story wasn't something I read in a lot of other books. So, it was very unique. I still remember every detail of this book, if not the names of the characters. It had a bit of suspense, mystery, and paranormal. If you are in high school looking for time to kill, you should pick this up and start reading. I liked it, you might find it okay. It sure hell beats staring at everyone after finishing a...more
Stranger with My Face is about a girl named Laurie Stratton whose friends and family who claim to see her even though it wasn't. Laurie begins to see the girl who looks exactly like her and talks to her. She then learns about astral projection. Laurie begins to do it. The twin tries to ruin Laurie's life and take over her body.
A text-to-self connection is like Laurie I am shy and I don't like to talk to people who I don't know. Also I'm curious and I wonder about things just like her. Also I'm...more
A text-to-self connection is like Laurie I am shy and I don't like to talk to people who I don't know. Also I'm curious and I wonder about things just like her. Also I'm...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's The Name o...: astral projection YA book [s] | 4 | 121 | Jul 16, 2012 04:00am | |
| What did you think of the Lifetime Movie...did it do any justice to the book? | 2 | 8 | Jul 12, 2012 09:52am |
Lois Duncan (born Lois Duncan Steinmetz, April 28, 1934) is an American writer and novelist, known primarily for her books for children and young adults, in particular (and some times controversially considering her young readership) crime thrillers. Duncan's parents were the noted magazine photographers Lois Steinmetz and Joseph Janney Steinmetz. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but gr...more
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Dec 29, 2008 02:58pm
Dec 29, 2008 06:11pm