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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Literary PSA: The Mediator series by Meg Cabot




Long ago I decided to start a NEW THING: Literary Public Service Announcements. Essentially, I'm going to pimp a book that I read before I started blogging, but that I want to foist upon the world due to its high levels of sheer awesomeness for the good of the public and all that jazz. Instead of me just telling people over and over that they should read something "JUST BECAUSE!!!1!", I've decided to actually explain in a more eloquent fashion just why my favorite books are my favorites.

Last time on Literary Public Service Announcements: The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce

And now this week's PSA:

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The Mediator series by Meg Cabot

As you may have noticed, I crazy, uber, scary love Meg Cabot and have a crazy, uber, scary amount of her books. I grew up reading all the Meg Cabot books, and there seemed to be about six every year, and I OWNED THEM ALL. A lot I can definitely recommend, but the series that sticks out the most to me is one of her earliest and tragically underrated series: the Mediator series.

They're about Suze Simon, a sixteen-year-old girl who moves from New York City to Carmel, California, a picturesque and sleepy coastal town, to move in with her new stepfamily. Suze is snarky, bad ass, and oh, yeah--SHE CAN SEE GHOSTS. This is a terrible inconvenience to Suze, because all she really wants to do is put together bad ass outfits and judge people, but she has a job to do. Her job is to help ghosts work through their issues and go towards to light and leave this astral plane. But she also gets the tough, cranky ghosts, and she always ends up having to punch them, because that's how Suze is. She's a puncher.

I really, really love Suze.

So she moves to Carmel into a really old house, which obviously is haunted by a super hot ghost named JESSE DE SILVA who deserves to be in all caps because JESSE DE SILVA. He just so happens to haunt her bedroom, and it's perfect. Jesse de Silva is really attractive and really important. Preteen Gillian has never recovered from the glory that is one Jesse de Silva. Because of course, Suze starts to fall for Jesse because he is a hot Spanish ghost from the Wild West who lives in her bedroom wearing a rather sheer white camisa and wouldn't you? But he's long dead, so, problems.

The thing about this series is that it's best read all at once, or at least in quick succession. The books are short and quick and delightfully fun, but they really only build up to a full epic story together. They're pretty episodic (which is why it would make the best ever TV show hello). But within these six books (AND A SEVENTH THERE'S GOING TO BE A SEVENTH AND I AM DYING WITH EXCITMENT) there are plots, boyfriends, kisses, stepbrothers and adorably family relationships, awesome best friends, Hallways of Death, murder, mayhem and swoons. This series is all the things, and it's hilarious to boot.

It starts off so fluffy and then takes turns twisty and dark and creepy and wonderful. Plus, as Christina reminded me, it has "amusingly dated references", having been written in the early 2000's when the world was a different place and TRL was on and cell phones were the size of your face and pagers were a thing. PLUS JESSE DE SILVA.

15 comments:

  1. FINE YOU WIN I WILL EVENTUALLY BUY/READ THESE BOOKS.

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  2. I LOVE THIS SERIES AND THERE'S GOING TO BE A SEVENTH? WHAT? I know that's cool and all, but what's going to happen? I thought it ended fairly well! Just like you, I grew up on Meg Cabot, and I read about half of her books. I'M GLAD YOU DECIDED TO DO A PSA ON THIS SERIES BECAUSE IT IS MY FAVE!

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  3. I love your Literary PSAs because I think we had a lot of the same favorites growing up! I'm SOO pumped for the 7th Mediator and the spinoff MG princess diaries series and ROYAL WEDDING. Meg Cabot can do no wrong!!!

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  4. I am also a HUGE Meg Cabot fan! I've read the first four books, but I still need to read books 5&6. I seriously need to get on that and I'm so glad that your post is reminding me of the awesomeness of Suze and Jesse!

    Also, heck yeah this would be an amazing TV show!!!!

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  5. I was thinking about rereading these yesterday! I zoomed through this series when I was a teenager and I AM SO EXCITED THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE A 7TH BOOK.

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  6. Yes!!! So happy to see this series getting some love on your blog!!! Meg Cabot's Mediator series is the whole reason I started reading her books...ages ago!!!

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  7. JESSE DE SILVA. AKA the only thing I actually remember about this series, which I read when I was about eleven. Jesse freaking de Silva. I remember this series as being relatively trashy and silly, but I ate them right up. Thanks for reminding me of this awesome series!

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  8. I so wasn't interested in reading this series at all until this post and now? I think I'm going to order them all. They sound so good! So yes, I'm definitely 100% sold!

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  9. All that must really be said is

    YES

    YES

    YES.

    I didn't discover them until I was about 16, but then I fell in love with Suze. Pretty sure I'm asexual because I need all my love for fictional characters and real people take too much of it away. I loved Jesse too, but SUZE. MY SISTER IN SARCASM AND SNARK.

    I WANT TO SEE THEM GET MARRIED AND SEE WHAT SHENANIGANERY ENSUES WHILE THEY'RE TRYING TO PULL THAT SHIT TOGETHER AND HOW EXACTLY PAUL GETS INVOLVED WITH ALL THAT MESS AND AND AND

    (I was a big fan of Paul too, but only the Paul in my headcanon and in my favorite fanfics. Canon Paul was a bit of a
    douche.)

    2015 NEEDS TO GET HERE MORE FASTER.

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  10. I only read one of the books but I absolutely loved it. I may read the whole series if I have time.

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  11. I ADORE this series and like most of Meg Cabot's books really. Suze + Jesse <3

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  12. oh my GOD now I am going to yelling
    JESSE DE SILVA
    JESSE DE SILVA
    all the time now!!! *runs off to buy books*

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  13. Yes! I need to re-read this series like right now. I actually haven't read too much else by Meg Cabot, but that's fine by me. I'd rather just read this one over and over again.
    Jesse de Silva wasn't my first book boyfriend. Nor was he my last. But he's one for whom my original feelings haven't changed at all over the years.
    Just...*happy sigh* Thanks for promoting this series! It really does deserve to be more well known than it seems to be.

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  14. I am so excited for the seventh! I just reread these a few weeks ago and JESSE IS DREAMY.

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  15. I am super excited about this book. I really never thought she would continue the story but I'm so glad she did. I love Jesse so much and Suze!! :D

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