Shadowed Summer

April 1, 2009
Gr 7-9-Set in a small town in Louisiana, this novel revolves around superstitions, hauntings, and badly buried secrets. Iris, 14, plans to spend the summer with her friend Collette, casting spells and calling up ghosts in the local cemetery. The girls know they don't have mystical powers, but they enjoy the gameuntil Iris sees the ghost of a boy who asks her, "Where y'at Iris?" Convinced that he is the spirit of Elijah, a local boy gone missing a generation before, Iris sets out to uncover the truth of his disappearance. The ghost begins to terrorize her, and the town becomes angry at her digging into the past. Then Ben, whom Collette likes, joins them, causing friction between the girls. The novel climaxes with Iris awakening from a terrifying dream, certain of where Elijah is buried. Her discovery uncovers years of secrets hidden by her father, who was Elijah's best friend. Mitchell packs a lot into this novel; on the periphery of the story are hints of suicide, homosexuality, and spousal abuse that give complexity to the secondary characters living in this small town. Suggest this one to readers who like a supernatural twist to their coming-of-age stories."Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2009
Grades 8-12 This heady mix of ghost story and mystery, drenched in the languid, humid atmosphere of a small Louisiana town, should appeal to the core audience of the Twilight series: adolescent girls who like a little sexiness in their ghostly pursuers. Ennui can get people into all sorts of trouble, and the kind of blank summer days staring down 14-year-old Iris and her friends lead them to casting spells in the town cemetery. A masculine whisper in Iris ear shoots them into true ghost-hunting, with a Ouija board indicating that the whisperer belongs to the towns only mystery, a 17-year-old boy who disappeared almost 20 years ago. Mitchell skillfully segues from gothic romance to prosaic mystery as the friends examine microfiche records and question the boys relatives and friends. As the ghost becomes increasingly insistent that his mystery be solved, Iris discovers unnerving connections to her own family. Highly atmospheric, with pulse-pounding suspense and an elegiac ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
Fourteen-year-old Iris resigns herself to another boring summer in Ondine, Louisiana, where the only excitement is playing at seances. Make-believe becomes all too real when long-missing Elijah begins haunting her. Elijah's attention becomes malevolent, and Iris and friends must uncover their town's dark past. A Southern gothic sensibility adds a chill to this sweltering Louisiana mystery.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)