Parents' Guide to

Stranger With My Face

By Norah Caroline Piehl, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

OK read. Teens may love the supernatural elements.

Book Lois Duncan Mystery 1981
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A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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age 13+

Based on 1 parent review

hm200524
hm200524 Adult
November 25, 2015
age 13+

Stranger with my Face book review

Title: Stranger with My Face Author: Lois Duncan Genre: Mystery Stranger with My Face, this book is set in a beach home away from the city and deals with the main characters, Laurie and Lia. Laurie is a girl who had a long lost twin sister named Lia. Laurie and Lia were sisters and they both look the same. One day Laurie's friends told her that they saw her at a beach party but, Laurie said it was not her and that she was home sick. Laurie's friends did not believe her. In reality, it was actually her twin sister Lia. One day Laurie found a book of astroprojection. When she read the book she did astroprojecton and Lia took over Laurie's body. Lia was happy because Lia wanted revenge on Laurie because, when they were little, they were foster kids and Laurie was picked over Lia to be taken by a family. Then Laurie became a spirit and the evil sister Lia had full control of Laurie's body. If anyone wants to read it, the theme is to never get jealous because it will just make things worse. I can't relate to any characters in the story because I have never been jealous of any of my relatives. Also I have never done anything that made me feel the same way as Lia because I have never wanted revenge on any of my family members like Lia was jealous of Laurie getting adopted instead of her. I really liked the book because it was very suspenseful like what was Lia going to do next or what happened to Laurie once Lia took over her body. My favorite part of the book "Stranger with My Face" is when Laurie's friends told Laurie about them seeing her at the beach party. It made me think what is going on, but Laurie was at home, not at the beach party, so that part was very mysterious. My favorite character in the book was Lia even though she was the antagonist. The reason why she was my favorite character was because she put the suspense part in the story and made the book mysterious and suspenseful. An example is "oh what is Lia going to do next?" I don't have a least favorite part because the whole book was awesome! If I could change anything in the story I would change nothing because the book is good the way it is and if I or anyone changed it, it would have ruined the story. I would recommend this book to another person because if someone has nothing to do, he/she can read this book and will be very into it. The type of person I would recommend this book to is someone who likes mystery and suspense because throughout this book it's mostly just mystery and suspense.
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What's the Story?

Sixteen-year-old Laurie finally has it made: She has a handsome boyfriend and a popular group of friends. Things start to fall apart, though, when Laurie's boyfriend swears he saw Laurie meeting another boy, even though Laurie was home sick.

Other unexplained sightings convince Laurie that she has a double, and when the mysterious figure claims to be her twin sister, Laurie investigates. Laurie discovers that she was adopted at birth, although her sister Lia was not. Instead, Lia bounced from foster home to foster home, growing more bitter--and more dangerous.

Now, although her body is confined, Lia visits Laurie through astral projection. When Laurie's friends start to get hurt, Laurie suspects Lia's trying to take over her life. Will Laurie embrace her newfound sister, or will she protect her adoptive family?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (10):

This book isn't a mystery in the classic sense; as soon as Laurie's friend, Helen, is discovered battered and abandoned, the reader knows Laurie's double is responsible. The real mystery of the story, though, is which path Laurie will choose: Will she explore her psychic powers and her past, or will she embrace the present and defend her family?

As intriguing as this question becomes, and as menacing a figure as Lia is, these elements of the novel are almost secondary to the exploration of astral projection that's at the heart of the story. Duncan makes out-of-body travel seem so commonplace that even the most literal-minded readers might lose some of their skepticism. In fact, most readers will be so absorbed by these supernatural elements that they'll overlook many of the book's inconsistencies. Laurie tells us this story at age 17, only a year after the events described, but her voice often sounds more middle-age than teenage -- she repeatedly refers to her younger siblings as "the children," for example.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the supernatural elements of the story.

  • Do you think people really can have psychic powers?

  • What do you think of the notion of out-of-body travel?

Book Details

  • Author: Lois Duncan
  • Genre: Mystery
  • Book type: Fiction
  • Publication date: January 1, 1981
  • Number of pages: 235
  • Last updated: November 15, 2019

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