The New Girl - Fear Street Book 1

The New Girl : Fear Street Book 1by R. L. StineCory Brooks is Shadyside High school's start gymnast. He's never missed a practice or flubbed a meet, until now. One glimpse of the new girl, pale as a ghost, blonde and beautiful and Cory can't think of anything except her. Only when he tries to contact Anna Corwin at her home on Fear Street, he's told that she isn't there because she is dead. Cory needs to find out the truth about the girl who is haunting his dreams but he's been warned: Come to Fear Street and you're dead too!Oh, how reading this book brought me back down memory lane. I loved this series when I was growing up and I really wish I still had my original books. The story didn't give me the same chills as it did when I was 13, but it was still suspenseful enough to make me think about leaving the light on (I don't deal well with suspense, ok! Shush!) for a little while. I had forgotten that the main character was a guy until I started reading it - gosh! Almost 20 years later? I suddenly feel very old.Originally published in 1989, The New Girl is the book that kicked off the Fear Street series. I see they  re-released them in 2006 with different covers. But I guess they didn't do as well. The image above is the original cover art. I liked cover art from back then, I prefer the drawn people to the photographed people.At only 168 pages, this is a very fast read. I read them just as fast when I was a teen, which is why I am happy they didn't take a year to come out between books. I can't remember how often they came out, but I think it was very few months. There was no internet to check these things out back in my day (when dinosaurs roamed freely, of course) but I am pretty sure the back of the book had the month of publication for the next book. I knew when I had to have my parents drive me back to the store. And I would always get them in the summer while we were at our trailer on Lake Champlain in upstate NY. There was always something extra special about the US bookstores (Waldenbooks) that made me happier than going to one here.My OCD was just as pronounced back then as it was now and I HAD to buy the books in order. When they released the "Super Chiller" and special editions, I had to place them where they went in the series of books. I was such a book geek, but still, it kept me happy.I have decided that I am starting my own challenge for myself, since I have discovered that my library has pretty much the entire series of Fear Street books I am going to read them in order once again. Ah, nostalgia. ;) R. L. Stine's website has a booklist for both the Fear Street and Goosebumps series, if you ever want to check them out again for your own nostalgia!Meanwhile, I am going to go cross this book off my RIP III list. I'm two down! Woo!