Neal Shusterman is an award-winning author whose works include Full Tilt, The Schwa Was Here, Downsiders, and the Dark Fusion series among others. (See his website for more titles.) A versatile writer, his works include realistic fiction, science fiction, and fantasy; he writes for children, young adults, and adults.
Shusterman, Neal. 2006. Everlost.
Nick and Allie are our hero and heroine. Though they never met in life, they are united in death and in their quest to figure out this strange realm of Everlost. Nine months before the novel opens, the two are traveling with their families when for whatever reason the cars have a head-on collision. Thrown from the cars--neither were wearing safety belts--the two find themselves traveling towards the light at the end of the tunnel. However, something or someone stops them from transitioning to their final destination.
Nine months later the two awake in the middle of a forest. A young boy in strange clothes, who has forgotten his name, welcomes them to Everlost and tries to convince them that they're dead but that is okay because they can have great fun playing together. Allie insists on naming the boy Lief and persuades the two--she's very headstrong--that they leave the forest and its relative safety to journey home.
They set out determined and fearless...but the longer their journey...the more they become aware of the dangers posed not only by mingling in the human world (gravitational forces) but by other Afterlights (dead spirits) as well. In particular, Mary Hightower, aka Mary, Queen of Snots, the McGill, and the Haunter. These Afterlights for the most part are harmless, young children who like to do the same things in death that they did in life: laugh, jump, play, tease, etc. But a few are power-hungry wanting domination over the others. Can Allie, Lief, and Nick find the peace that will prepare them for their final journey home? Or will they spend an eternity held captive by a vicious monster?
Everlost is an exciting novel by a talented writer. I encourage readers to seek out his other books as well.
http://www.storyman.com/
Orson Scott Card's Review of Everlost
A small excerpt from OSC's review: The result is a marvelous adventure story filled with people and places and situations that I promise you've never seen before in fiction. Shusterman, always an inventive writer, has exceeded even his own high standards with this beautiful, terrible world. And yet when we reach the climax, he brings us to a moment of joyous relief, as our heroes -- even Nick, with chocolate permanently on his face -- become so ennobled that you realize that even though they died tragically young, they still found a way to turn this purgatory-like existence into a place where epic deeds could still be done. They have, in other words, a good life, rich with meaning.
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