Throwback Thursday: The Invitation by Diane Hoh

Author: Diane Hoh

First published in  1993 by Scholastic Children's

Re-issues in March 2012 by Open Road Media

For the high schoolers of Greenhaven, Cass Rockham’s fall party is the social event of the year. Each October, students wait by their mailboxes, praying for the gilt-edged invitation that grants entry into the inner circle of the most popular crowd. And now Cass has planned her finest party yet, with a new sauna, a hot band, and no parents for miles. But to make this party really killer, Cass tops it all off with a sinister twist.

Nerdy Sarah Drew is shocked when she and her friends receive invitations to Cass’s affair. For years she’s steered clear of the popular kids, and now they want her to come to their party? Sarah is wary, but her friends talk her into coming with them. But she regrets it quickly, for at Cass Rockham’s mansion, the only party favor is death.

For the most part, The Invitation was enjoyable.  There are never any real clues as to who the potential killer could be.  I thought the book was pretty tame as no one really gets too hurt.  There are some pretty tense moments.  It's a quick read, I read it in a couple of hours.  My only criticism is that it was too short.  I wanted a better ending or should I say a more complete ending. Maybe an epilogue would have been nice.  The subject matter is still relevant for today.  The popular kids still exist and love to torment the "uncool" kids.


The Invitation is a YA book from the 90s.  It has recently been reissued as an ebook. I missed this series because I was a bit too old to read YA at the time. (Or so I thought!) When I was in high school, Christopher Pike books were very popular and this one reminded me of those books. It's is 20th in the Point Horror series.  Normally, this would annoy me because I am a stickler for reading books in order.  I never believe the claim that a book in a series can be read as a "stand alone".  However, I actually think that this could be considered as a stand alone book.  I never got the sense that I was missing any background on the town or on the characters. I may at some point see if the rest of the series is available.