by S.M. Parker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 22, 2017
History and mystery meld beautifully in this ghost story with depth.
A ghost plagues a native Mainer as she struggles to unearth the tragic secrets of the spirit’s demise.
White teen Rilla Brae mourns the recent loss of her father and continues his work as a lobsterman off the coast of Maine. She’s been accepted to college, but with no one to take care of her grandmother—the last remaining member of her family—it’s tough to leave home. One day, after setting her pots, she spots a young African-American girl on nearby Malaga Island—she’s singing. But the girl vanishes, and Rilla can’t tell if she was a hallucination. She wasn’t—the girl is a ghost, and she haunts Rilla, scratching messages on her windowsill. Meanwhile, Rilla becomes close to Sam, a white college student conducting research on Malaga. As the ghost intensifies her demands, Rilla and Sam piece together the tragedy that befell her community. Residents of Rilla’s town forcibly evicted the islanders, committing some to institutions. As Rilla digs deeper, she learns about more horrors the townspeople committed in the name of racism—and the strong ties this history has to her own family. Based on true events, the story Rilla unearths is more haunting than any ghost (although the widespread use in Maine schools of Gary D. Schmidt’s 2003 middle-grade novel about the expulsion of Malaga’s residents, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, makes it hard to believe Rilla wouldn’t have been familiar with it already). An evocative backdrop of life as a lobsterman grounds the supernatural elements, and Rilla’s steeliness shines—she’s the kind of captain readers will eagerly follow.
History and mystery meld beautifully in this ghost story with depth. (author’s note, sources) (Paranormal suspense. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8204-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
by S.M. Parker
by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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by Laura Nowlin
by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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