Ghost Flower by Michele Jaffe YP FIC JAFFE

It started as a con.  Eve was a runaway with a past she can barely remember.  When she meets Bain and Bridgette they give her a chance she never dreamed of.  She looks like Aurora, their cousin that disappeared three years ago, the very night her best friend Liza committed suicide.  She can come back as Aurora and collect a lot of money, but there’s always a price to pay.  Liza’s ghost appears and tells her she was murdered.  Is this ghost a benevolent protector, a vengeful spirit, or something even more dangerous?  And whatever really happened to missing Aurora, and will Eve be able to avoid the same fate?

This is a fun, twisty mystery that has a lot of suspense and memorable characters.  This is Jaffe’s follow up to the similar Rosebush (I reviewed it here), and I must say that this one doesn’t feel as memorable.  The twists in both books are somewhat similar and rely on villains with BECAUSE I’M CRAZY motivations. On the bright side, this is a REALLY GOOD but not great story with loads of suspense and an interesting premise.  I liked following Eve and seeing how she would pull off her deceits AND handle all the ghostly shenanigans of Liza.  I also liked how freaked out Eve was of Liza.  Far too often, characters rebound way too quickly to such a huge revelation.  So if you like mysteries and suspense, then Ghost Flower is one of the better recent entries.  It has a nice slow build of suspense and a believable and relatable main character.  Hopefully the sort of way over the top ending doesn’t spoil it too much for you.  

You can check our catalog for Ghost Flower here.

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore YP FIC CLEMENTM

Amy Goodnight is the normal one in a most abnormal family.  And not even normally abnormal, witches with special powers abnormal. She stays away form magic as best she can by ranch sitting at her Aunt’s West Texas ranch.  she thinks her biggest problem is the incredibly annoying and annoyingly attractive cowboy, Ben, but  bodies start turning up near the ranch and a persistent ghost convinces her to solve the crimes she steps in the middle of the worlds of magic and murder.

This is a nice mix of spookiness with a light touch.  Our heroine isn’t a waifish lost soul with a tortured past and is actually quite witty and relatable.  Even better is the VERY tired cowboy romance actually works quite well hear due to Clement-Moore having a great ear for witty dialogue.  I actually found myself rooting for this couple (something that almost never happens for me in a paranormal romance). I love that the author invests as much effort in accurately capturing ranch life as well as telling a unique and often quite spooky ghost story.  It makes for s surprising good mash-up.  Texas Gothic has enough humor, creepiness, romance, and interesting characters to please almost any paranormal romance fans and may make some new ones.

Twin Spica by Kou Yaginuma YP FIC YAGINUMA

Thirteen year old Asumi Kamogawa dreams of the stars.  Now that she has applied to the first class of the Tokyo Space School she feels like her dreams may actually be in reach, but it’s hard to defeat gravity.  All around her are memories and ghosts of the suffering caused by a rocket ship tragedy that deeply marked her home town and family. If she can escape the Earth will she escape its ghosts?  Does she really want to?

This could very well be a new classic in manga.  It even has a timeless art style that looks as much like an 80s manga as a modern book.  What makes the book stand out is a mix of melancholy, hope, wonder, and whimsy, so it probably isn’t going to compete with Naruto. Asumi is like many quiet and shy manga protagonists with painful pasts.  I think what made me respond to her over the multitude of others is that her sense of earnestness and wanderlust is tied to a very well realized tragic past.  Just about everything dealing with plot and character is well realized.  All the supporting characters have their own stories and drives and Asumi’s ability to look closer at people allows them to be uncovered. This is a wonderful love letter to friendship, hope, family, exploration, and dreams that never becomes sappy or sentimental.  Manga fans looking for something original and heartfelt should give this gem a chance.

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol YP FIC BROSGOL

Anya sort of just blends in at school. She has one real friend and guys seem to think she’s invisible.  It could be worse she could be a total FOB (Fresh Off the Boat) like her fellow Russian émigré, Dima. All that changes, when she falls down a well (that really happens?) and meets a ghost named Emily.  Emily decides to follow her home and Anya finds having an invisible friend makes test time a lot easier.  Soon Emily is helping Anya get noticed by guys too, but as Emily starts doing more for Anya she wants more control. When Anya tries to break away she finds that Emily has a dark side and a hidden past that could prove…DEADLY.

Anya’s Ghost is funny, touching, and has excellent art.  The large eyes are cartoonish and filled with character and emotion.  Her works reminds me of Faith Hicks who did War at Ellsmere which I reviewed earlier.  What I like about the book is that Anya’s turn around feels earned and deserved.  The basic plot is dangerously close to an episode of iCarly where Carly totally learns the value of friendship, but some excellent art and well chosen dark turns of the plot keep it from being a trite story.  It’s a hugely enjoyable read for fans of comic art and good storytelling.

Light beneath Ferns by Anne Spollen YP FIC SPOLLEN

Elizah Rayne is in her own words “nothing like other girl narrators.” She’s happy being unique and would be ecstatic to be entirely alone left in silence with her thoughts, preparing for ‘something’. Unfortunately, her mother is worried that having been abandoned by her gambling addict father, moved to a small new school, and living next to a graveyard will be bad for Elizah, so Elizah is forced to see a counselor at school and to socialize with people that madden her. All this becomes unimportant when she finds the bone and meets a strange young man that draws her into his world.

This book utterly took me by surprise. I am less than impressed by both the title and the book cover, but I wanted to know at least what it was about so I read the introduction. Elizah’s rant about how this “story does not teach a lesson,” and “will not make you more popular or get you invitations to parties,” grabbed me right away. And Elizah is absolutely right; she is unlike most girl narrators. She is very funny and smart, but also her dedication to solitude is a refreshing change. She isn’t chasing after new friends and her unwillingness to pay attention to the people that target her as a weirdo is empowering and frequently hilarious. The story takes a while to get started but Elizah is so fun to read that I think readers won’t mind. Once it does get started it really is excellent. This is one of the best supernatural reads I’ve read in a long time. It is handled very realistically and takes a scientific and logical look at how it is more open minded to accept that there are things we do not yet know. I think this is a great read for anyone that like realistic fiction but is open to a little supernatural.

Peeled by Joan Bauer

Hildy Biddle, a budding reporter for her high school newspaper Cored, takes her journalistic responsibilities very seriously, just like her beloved father did. When evil things begin to happen and the local apple economy seems to be under a curse, Hildy and her friends decide to investigate. Neither ghosts nor haunted houses nor other reporters will keep the Cored staff from exposing corruption and evil and fighting for justice for their neighbors and town! But how do you verify a curse, and how do you interview a ghost? This quick read is funny, clever and engrossing, and Hildy is the friend everyone wishes they had.

The seer of shadows by Avi

An eerie ghost story set in New York City, in 1872, this chilling look at the early practice of photography will raise goosebumps and cause you to look over your shoulder at dark corners.

Fourteen-year-old Horace Carpetine has been apprenticed to an unknown photographer who intends to get rich from society portraits, and cheerfully concocts an elaborate scam to do so. Horace has been raised to approach things scientifically, and is more puzzled than scared when his manipulated photographs reveal haunting likenesses of a dead girl, Eleanora. Strange happenings and the discovery that Eleanora's death may not have been innocent convince Horace that her ghost has returned for a frightening revenge.

A deliciously scary, but poignant ghost story, which will stay with you long after you finish the book.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Both the male and female ghosts have been 'haunting' for years because they are unable to move on to Heaven. They have no idea why they are stuck here but take over two present day teens' bodies in order to enjoy earth stuff again. In the end, the ghosts find out what is holding them back. When I met Laura at the Texas Library Association she signed in my book "Don't let the walls stop you" and now I know why. A happy ending, a ghost story and a romance...what more could you ask for? YP FIC WHITCOMB

Beating Heart: A Ghost Story by A.M. Jenkins

Cora, a ghost, has lived alone in a dilapidated house for nearly a century until a family moves in consisting of a newly divorced mother, a boy her age named Evan, and his five year-old sister. Fun to read because Cora's view is told in verse and Evan/s is not. This book is excellent for a book discussion because it addresses issues about teen love. It is questionable if these issues would have risen because of Cora's ghostly presence or that they just happened by chance.