GHOSTED

A debut YA novel sees a teenage girl manifest psychic abilities and face the repercussions of a decades-old murder.

Seventeen-year-old MaryAnn Flute attends Serenity High in Colorado along with her best friends, Matt Peach and D’Neise O’Neil. Life at Serenity is mostly pretty normal. MaryAnn writes for the school newspaper, and she deals with petty jealousies. But then she discovers that her neighbor’s orange cat—the one that MaryAnn can most definitely still see prowling around—died weeks ago. Worse, that same neighbor falls off his ladder, and MaryAnn observes his spirit rise from his dead body. Before she knows it, MaryAnn is plunged into a mystery far scarier than the usual Halloween frights—one that stretches back to her mom and aunt’s cohort at Serenity and the murder of one of their classmates. MaryAnn’s two relatives, it transpires, were in the school’s Paranormal Club, which dabbled in witchcraft until her aunt stood up to the domineering girl who headed the coven. Ever since, girls from the coven have been dying under suspicious circumstances—starting with MaryAnn’s mom. Are these deaths just coincidences, or will history repeat this Halloween and reveal itself as a string of vengeful murders come full circle? Stone writes in the first person, past tense, evincing an easy style that blends well-pitched dialogue with action, description, and characterization. While the adults remain believably understated, 6-foot-2 MaryAnn and her fellow teens jump off the page. (Matt and his sister, Echo, are especially memorable; Trixie the Pembroke corgi will steal readers’ hearts.) The town of Serenity has its own sense of character, as does Serenity High, and the author succeeds admirably in capturing the spooky Halloween vibes. The plot engages on three levels—as an everyday teen drama, as a paranormal adventure, and as a historical murder mystery—yet, for all the underlying seriousness of this last component, MaryAnn and friends carry a wholesome cartoon vibe that keeps the chill at bay. (Of all the fancy dress costumes on show at the Graveyard Stomp dance, Chester Gibb and D’Neise’s shoutout to Scooby-Doo seems the most apt.) The story moves at a good pace, growing more and more urgent as it strains at its leash. Though the ending is perhaps a little rushed, teen and adult readers will delight in the journey.

A zesty mystery in the best Halloween spirit.