YA Review: Amanda/Miranda, by Richard Peck
I will admit to being a little mystified here. It appears that this book was originally published (in 1980) as a much longer adult novel. I had been expecting middle-grade, but at the youngest I would call this YA, given a fair number of rather adult incidents, not to mention a morally ambiguous resolution. The version I got was "updated in time for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic," a central event in the book. Title: Amanda/Miranda Author: Richard Peck Publication Info: Abridged edition 1999 by Dial Books for Young Readers; Kindle edition by Speak, 2001. 176 pages. Publisher's Blurb: This updated edition of the popular Richard Peck novel, available in time to commemorate the anniversary of the Titanic's fateful voyage in 1912, starts with a chilling prophecy. When Miranda begins her position as maid-servant to the glamorous and selfish Amanda Whitwell, Amanda wastes no time in using Miranda to suit her own cruel purposes. Miranda becomes