A straightforward but well-structured and absorbing supernatural tale of change and coping.
A bereaved boy discovers that he can see ghosts in this middle-grade novel.
Ever since 1900, when spiritualists “tore a hole” between the real world and the supernatural realm, poltergeists have come through the opening and plagued mortals. Like all children, 12-year-old Alex Lenard was tattooed at birth with a mark shielding him from “evil spirits.” His house in New Orleans is covered in pentacles and other signs of protection. Supernatural entities—and the arcane methods of keeping them at bay—are an everyday part of life. Alex is a star ghostball player at school. But on the way to the state championship, he is badly injured in a car accident. His mother is killed. Not only will the grief-stricken Alex never play again, the accident switches something inside of him. He develops psychic powers—a change thought to be impossible at his age. Alex doesn’t wish to see ghosts. His dad is staunchly anti-psychic, and going back to school will be hard enough for Alex without having his crazy aunt and his weird, paranormal-obsessed cousin Hannah move in next door. But what Alex wants doesn’t seem to matter. When he accompanies his aunt and cousin on one of their investigations, they uncover a spirit that needs putting to rest—and an evil entity hell-bent on stopping them. Backed by his Jamaican best friend, Jason Anderson, Alex must either accept his new situation or risk losing everyone he has left. McCauley writes in the first person, past tense and tells a simple story at an effective pace. The worldbuilding is a bit clumsy at first—the early chapters repeat some information—but once over its teething troubles, the book moves smoothly from premise to execution. The dialogue is well handled. The ubiquitous nature of the spirits is a pleasing facet that stands out. But of course the true focus is on Alex’s loss and how he deals with it. Alex is an average but likable protagonist, and Hannah and Jason are able supporting characters. Young readers should find themselves deeply engrossed.
A straightforward but well-structured and absorbing supernatural tale of change and coping. (glossary)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-951069-04-9
Page Count: 178
Publisher: Celtic Sea, LLC
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
A sensitive, moving debut.
When 11-year-old Eric Harper begins caring for an injured unicorn, his life is changed by the choices he makes, the relationships he forms, and the secrets he uncovers.
Eric lives with his family on land that has belonged to Harpers for generations and shares a special bond with his grandmother. One day, Eric spies what he thinks is a white deer but quickly realizes is a white unicorn. Filled with the “most amazing feeling of comfort and happiness and excitement,” Eric follows the lame unicorn to the farmhouse his ailing grandmother recently sold to Dr. Brancusi, a veterinarian, and her daughter, Allegra. (All three characters appear to be white.) Dr. Brancusi senses Eric’s concern and asks him to help her treat the unicorn. Discovering the unicorn is pregnant with twins, Dr. Brancusi warns Eric they must keep her hidden until the babies are born and hires him to assist. Eric’s affinity to the unicorn deepens, and when she’s threatened and runs away, he frantically searches. In the end, although Eric experiences loss, he gains a special family connection. Despite the presence of supernatural creatures, Eric’s quiet, genuine, first-person voice tells a realistic story of family love and discovering one’s true self, the presence of the unicorn and other magical creatures adding just a touch of whimsy to a story about very real emotions, revealed in Green’s black-and-white illustrations.
A sensitive, moving debut. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: July 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-76112-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
This middle-grade read is heartfelt, but nostalgia that’s a bit too on the nose makes it hard to follow
Twelve-year-old aspiring astronaut Ebony-Grace Norfleet Freeman is lonely and homesick in New York.
When trouble hits her family like an asteroid, Ebony-Grace, aka Cadet E-Grace Starfleet, is forced to leave her beloved grandfather and her hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, to spend a week with her father in Harlem, New York—or as she calls it, “No Joke City.” Determined to ignore what she calls the “Sonic Boom,” New York’s hip-hop revolution in the early 1980s, Ebony-Grace rejects the people, music, and movements of Harlem, instead blasting off in her mind aboard the Mothership Uhura to save her grandfather, Capt. Fleet. Stuck, Ebony-Grace works to navigate a new frontier where she is teased and called “crazy” because of her imaginative intergalactic adventures. Ostracized as a flava-less, “plain ol’ ice cream sandwich! Chocolate on the outside, vanilla on the inside,” Ebony-Grace tries her best to be “regular and normal,” but her outer-space imaginings are the only things that keep her grounded. The design includes images that sho nuff bring the ’80s alive: comic-strip panels, inverted Star Wars scripting, and onomatopoeic graffiti-esque words. Unfortunately, these serve to interrupt an already-crowded narrative as readers hyperjump between Ebony-Grace’s imagination and the movement of life in the real world, transmitted via news reports and subway memorials.
This middle-grade read is heartfelt, but nostalgia that’s a bit too on the nose makes it hard to follow . (Historical fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-18735-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
