Following Christopher Creed

Written by Carol Plum-Ucci

Narrated by Nick Cordero

Best-selling author Carol Plum-Ucci received the Michael L. Printz Honor for The Body of Christopher Creed. In this intense follow-up, Plum-Ucci returns to Steepleton, where the disappearance of Christopher Creed exposed the town's darkest secrets and moral failings. Still devastated by the loss of his brother, Justin Creed continues to search for an explanation, even as his fragile mental state continues to disintegrate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781464036248

Carol Plum-Ucci

Carol Plum-Ucci has been widely praised for capturing the heart and voice of teens while seamlessly combining reality with the supernatural. Her first novel, The Body of Christopher Creed, was a Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an IRA-CBC Children's Choice, and a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Mystery. Her subsequent books have all earned much critical acclaim and many award citations. www.carolplumucci.com

Reviews for Following Christopher Creed

[Katlyn Nolan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. I never thought we'd get a sequel. Yet another great ending.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book hooked me from the beginning, where the first book was a little slow. That being said, this one dragged a LOT in the middle. So much of the story seemed to not matter, and was really drawn out. I almost lost interest a few times, but I wanted the resolution - and DAMN was that payoff worth it! I had no clue how Plum-Ucci would resolve the missing kid from her first book, but it was fantastic. Looking back, I feel like a lot of readers might see the ending coming, and I usually am good at guessing endings, but this one blindsided me. Well worth the read!

[silenceiseverything · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I remember reading The Body of Christopher Creed in high school and LOVING it because it was just so creepy. It was a well-done psychological thriller. And it was my first (psychological thriller, that is), so automatically it has a soft spot in my heart. When I first heard of Following Christopher Creed, I was a bit put-off. The Body of Christopher Creed was so amazing that I feel that it didn't need a sequel. And, unfortunately, I was right. Following Christopher Creed never lives up to the brilliance that is its predecessor. Following Christopher Creed was, most of the time, a bloated, boring book. Sure, some interesting things happened here and there, but reading most of the book was tedious. I also found the characters in The Body of Christopher Creed more developed and therefore more intriguing. While I did like Mike and RayAnn, I never got a clear reading of them, particularly when it comes to Mike. Now maybe this was the author's intention, but it made me feel very disconnected to Mike. Revisiting with the characters of the previous novel was pretty cool, but that only lasted for a few chapters. Another thing I didn't understand was why the author built up this side-plot at the beginning with Steepleton having bad karma, yet never elaborated on it. I thought that should've been the focus Following Christopher Creed. What makes Steepleton tick? Why is it that while most towns see change, Steepleton remains the same and never evolves? She brings up these questions, but answers are never forthcoming. Normally, the lack of answers doesn't really tend to bother me, but I guess I was latching on to the Steepleton theory because it was really the only thing in Following Christopher Creed that intrigued me. I found the rest meh. So, two stars for the ending which I really did NOT see coming (but really should have. I think I'm off my game) and for some moments of interest. But really, I found Following Christopher Creed to be an unnecessary sequel that never reaches the awesomeness that was The Body of Christopher Creed, let alone surpasses it.

[susiebookworm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved The Body of Christopher Creed and it's gone down as one of my all-time favorite books. But as it's a coming-of-age novel that comments on both society (to take a large-scale view) and high school bullying (to take a smaller-scale view), I was doubtful as to how good a sequel would be. Novels of The Body's caliber and scope don't usually have sequels. Following Christopher Creed turned out to be decent. If not for the ending, though, it wouldn't have come anywhere near wowing me as much as did the first book. It wasn't as hard-hitting nor as thrilling, a lot of it being dialogue, and I was never sure where Plum-Ucci was trying to head with the story. Was it intended as another coming-of-age social commentary, a novel about moving on, or some book promoting the powers of positive and quantum thinking? It only became clear at the conclusion. Fortunately, the author keeps the plot interesting; even with there being little action (at least in the physical sense), things move fast. The main characters are likeable, each having their own faults that they're trying to overcome with varying rates of success. I wish Plum-Ucci would have delved more into the "bad frequency" aspect of Steepleton, why there's a high cancer rate, why there have been unexplained, total-fatality car wrecks, why everyone is "mean" - mysteries that readers expect to be explained by the end but are dropped. Again, what makes this a totally worthwhile read rather than just an ok-ish one is the end when some shocking realizations finally come out about what really happened to Christopher Creed. There's no way you'll ever see it coming until the last few pages.Note: Readers will need to have read The Body of Christopher Creed before this book in order to understand the basic plot and characters. I also noticed that there is much, much less profanity in Following Christopher Creed than in the first book.

[sleahey_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For a big fan of Christopher Creed, it was a treat to receive the sequel. However, the narrative moves disappointingly slowly through the follow-up, and I wonder how confusing it might be for readers who don't know the original story. I must say that I loved the ending!