Shadowed Summer
From Booklist
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 town’s 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 boy’s 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. Grades 8-12. --Connie Fletcher
Review
Saundra Mitchell respects her youthful readers, and comprehends the complexities of their time of life. This spectral story is insightful and eloquent; the ache of youth is remarkably rendered. --Hellnotes
Good ghost stories are, like ghosts, a little thin on the ground in these times, and readers will be pleased to find this atmospheric reaffirmation of a good haunting. --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Shadowed Summer is beautiful and haunting- filled with love and lies, secrets and betrayal, that play out flawlessly in a novel you will never forget. It is the best Southern Gothic I've read in years." --Kami Garcia, New York Times Bestselling Author of Beautiful Creatures
"This heady mix of ghost story and mystery...should appeal to the core audience of the Twilight series: adolescent girls who like a little sexiness in their ghostly pursuers. . . Highly atmospheric, with pulse-pounding suspense and an elegiac ending." ---Booklist