| Living Dead Girl | 
 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth Scott
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $9.98
You Save: $7.01 (41%)
New (35) Used (12) from $8.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 24056
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5
ISBN: 1416960597
EAN: 9781416960591
ASIN: 1416960597
Publication Date: September 2, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081121221340T
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.Once upon a time, my name was not Alice. Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was. When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over. Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her. This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 For mature readers only, be ready for some deep discussions on this one. November 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"It will be over soon, finally, but the thing about hearts is that they always want to keep beating."
Silent Ray
They call him "Silent Ray" at work. He likes that. He is in control. The police woman in the park likes him, too. They both feel sorry for the skinny, little girl because she doesn't look as if she has anyone caring for her. They agree that it's such a pity the way some children are treated. Ray hates to see them hurt. They're special and magical --- especially little girls. There are people out there, they call them "perverts," who do awful things to kids. Ray has no use for anything like that. He has his own little girl and takes very good care of her. She is his and does anything he says. Yes, he takes very good care of his "Alice." But something is happening to Alice --- she's getting taller, and no matter how little he lets her eat, she's growing. That's just not good. Something has to be done.
Living Dead Alice
Her name isn't really Alice. She used to be Kyla. She was 10 years old and thought the man was being so helpful. Now Kyla is dead because that is the only way to be with Ray. Her heart keeps beating, but it's dead. How can that be? Ray will kill her parents if she runs. If only they knew what happens when the door closes and he takes her. Sometimes he almost kills her and then kisses away the bruises, the bloodied lips, the torn flesh, the bite marks. She belongs to him. He is all-powerful, she is nothing. Ray's charm fools them all, but Alice knows:
"Ray is missing something other than his soul. It's like you see him, and he's a person, but if you look close enough, you can tell that he's not. Like underneath his skin, he's not hollow. He's rotted out."
She wants to be free, away from his hot hands, his grasping and his hurting. No one sees, no one hears, no one does anything to help her. If she dares save herself, what is the cost? Where is freedom? Could it be the boy in the park and his little sister? The police woman? The neighbor? Please, somebody, before it's too late, too late, too late.
Like Robert Cormier, Elizabeth Scott has dared to take a picture no one wants to see. This is, without question, one of the most emotionally difficult reads I've experienced. Any parent will cringe at the flawless way Ray is able to kidnap Kyla. Anyone reading this book will be so horrified they won't want to finish it, yet they will not be able to put it down. Scott's spare language, as she speaks through Alice's character, is powerful, gripping and heart-wrenching. The final page will leave you stunned. For mature readers only, be ready for some deep discussions on this one.
--- Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts
i love this. October 30, 2008
i dont think its one of my favorites, but it was definitely a great read. great writing. great pace. it is repetitive, but i think that's the point.
i read it in two hours.
Sparse writing, powerful book October 25, 2008
This is definitely a story that stays with you. It's a relatively quick read because the writing is somewhat sparse, but Scott does a wonderful job of using that sparseness to make your head fill in the rest of the horrible details. Interesting story, and Alice is mesmerizing - you truly get into the head of the character. Interesting and horrifying, all at once --- I had a hard time putting down the book, and now I'll have a hard time getting it out of my head.
Review of Living Dead Girl October 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the story of a girl called Alice. When she was 10 years old, she was abducted by Ray, a man who has sexually abused, dominated, and brainwashed Alice. Five years have passed and Alice is sure that, like the Alice before her, Ray will kill her soon for being too old. She is able to leave their apartment and speak to a few people, but no one sees her for what she is.
I know this sounds like a cliche, but reading this book is like someone punching you in the gut, page after page after page. I was actually nauseous while reading the story, in a way that only Joyce Carol Oates has made me feel in the past. The blurbs on the book tell you that you'll want to put it down, and then run back to it and keep reading. It's true. So after saying all that, this is a book worth reading. The girl that Ray calls Alice has been mentally and physically damaged, and you'll be shouting every time she comes in contact with someone outside of her apartment (including a police officer) and doesn't tell them "Help me."
This is a book that you can be totally uncomfortable with, but still emotionally invested in. Alice has become part of a cycle - at one point, she begins to understand that feeling of power Ray gets when he hurts her, just as his mother hurt him. Alice makes subtle changes throughout the story, though, and its worth seeing that through to the end. This is a hard book to recommend to someone, because it's that painful and can be graphic without going into great detail. It's amazing writing and a powerful story, though.
Such a heartbreaker October 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Alice has been kidnapped and has been living with her captor for years. She doesn't remember what her real name is but she does remember where she lived and her mother and father. Her captor takes every chance to remind her that he does as well and if she ever runs away he will go to her home and murder her family. She isn't the first Alice for her troubled captor, and she begins to realize that with each day she grows and he becomes more disgusted with her. She knows that unless a miracle happens, she is not going to be her captor's last Alice.
I'm not quite sure why I picked it up but I'm glad that I did. This story was a real rare find. The book is short and it reads with a cynical POV of Alice, who knows her days are numbered.
Living Dead Girl was so horrible it was wonderful. The story is heartbreaking and the main girl makes you want to cry because you want so badly to be able to save her. When it finally did end, I had tears in my eyes.
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