JACK AND THE BEANPOLE

Two eighth-graders with unusual talents team up in a middle-grade novel that’s part whodunit, part ghost story.

Breanne Thurman and Jackson “Sonny” Etherly aren’t your average 13-year-olds. Breanne, a tall, skinny, white girl, can talk to ghosts; opera-loving Sonny—who’s short, African-American, and targeted by the class bully for being a “nerd”—can see ghosts. As Breanne and Sonny slowly become friends, they not only discover that they can communicate telepathically, but also that their unusual talents become stronger whenever they hold hands. Breanne’s grandfather, a retired police officer, starts believing in the kids’ powers when their supernatural experiences connect to an unsolved murder case. In fact, ghostly encounters at school embroil Breanne and Sonny in multiple mysteries: Was a student’s death really an accident? Is there a poltergeist in the band room? And why has a trio of spirits been hanging around the school for years? The narrative switches smoothly between Sonny’s and Breanne’s first-person voices, with third-person interludes involving particular ghosts. Paavola (The Unspeakable, 2017, etc.), a retired psychologist and the author of the Murder in Memphis mystery series for adults, weaves seemingly disparate plot points together into a suspenseful read. The two main characters are relatable and multidimensional as they navigate a tentative friendship along with ghostly and peer-related challenges. With “a hundred years of ghosts” residing in the school, it will be intriguing to see where Sonny’s and Breanne’s talents take them next. The supporting cast is diverse, with skin color a matter-of-fact part of character descriptions; a social studies teacher is “an older white woman,” for example, and a history teacher is a “dark-skinned, black man with a mustache.”

An eventful mystery for young readers with varied characters, realistic challenges, and supernatural suspense.