August 1, 2023 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central
Life is hard for Charlie Frith, who lives in York, England with his busdriver father, hairdresser mother, and two much younger sisters. His aunt is struggling with cancer, so her three children are often at the house. After a battle with meningitis when he was young, Charlie lost both of his lower legs. He has prostheses, but occasionally uses a wheelchair. He's gay, but hasn't really come out to his family at all, but some of his friends, like his crush Mitch who is now dating Leonie, have some clue. All of that would be manageable, even with exams looming, but there's more; Charlie is a seer, who can see and communicate with ghosts. This power descended on him when he died briefly, but was saved by a young doctor, Heather. She was attacked as she left the hospital and died herself right after dealing with Charlie, so appears to him as a ghost and is very helpful. He also has Ollie, a young boy who died 100 years ago, as a friend. Dealing with these abilities is a challenge at the best of times, since ghosts sometimes seek him out to either communicate or, in the case of "moldy oldies", try to kill him. There's also the threat of being caught in a ghost's "death loop" and experiencing their death, which has brought him to the attention of parents and teachers who witnesses an episode when he was on a school trip. His mental health was questioned, and he had to go through therapy and be on medication, so he is not keen to mention that this was not a one time episode. When Audrey, another ghost with whom he is familiar, warns him against another seer, Charlie takes this seriously, but when he meets Sam Harrow, he seems to be helpful. Not only that, but Sam needs Charlie's help: the historical ghosts of old York are going missing, and Sam is trying to figure out who is responsible. Worried that he hasn't seen Audrey or a couple of other well known and benevolent ghosts in a while (and because Sam is rather cute), Charlie joins forces with him to try to figure out what is going on. Suspicion falls on a local tour guide, and Mitch and Leonie join the group to help figure out the mystery. When the tour guide is found dead, things become even more dire. Fighting both the spirits and the humans who are trying to control him often ends in Charlie being wounded, which makes his parents very concerned. When it seems likely that there is a concerted effort to collect ghosts and use their essence for evil, Charlie knows he has to keep investigating no matter what the cost, but it may be higher than he expects.
Fans of Stroud's Lockwood and Company and Schwab's City of Ghosts will love this one, and it has the deeply creepy atmospheric feel of a good BBC crime drama, mainly due to the rich descriptions of the city of York and its historic ghosts! Charlie's interactions include the ghost of a recently deceased neighbor, but also 1940s military spies as well as George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, from the 1600s! The setting and the history complement the story well and don't detract from the spooky nature or harrowing adventures that Charlie has.
The depiction of Charlie's dealings with his prostheses is well done; there are some problems with mobility and pain, but these don't stop Charlie from investigating the ghosts. The parents are very concerned about both Charlie's physical problems as well as what they percieve as his mental health struggles. At one point, his father speaks up in support of the fact that Charlie is gay, even though Charlie hasn't said anything, and the mother also acknowledges this and affirms her love for her son.
Heather and Ollie are well developed, and Charlie relies on these ghostly friends since he is having trouble navigating relationships with the living, including Mitch and Leonie. I loved that Mitch and Leonie were concerned about Charlie, and were willing to believe his involvement with the ghostly world. They both lend their help and skills to the missing ghost mission in very valuable ways. Sam is a trans man, and this comes up briefly when Charlie broaches the subject in a rather regrettable way. for which he later apologizes. There are a couple of brief kisses between the two.
This is a Young Adult book mainly because of the ghost violence, and expecially because of the horrific ways that some of the ghosts met their end. I read some reviews that mentioned more mature language, but I wonder if that has been removed for the US edition, because I don't remember seeing any of it. There is a content warning at the beginning of the book.
I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would, and am looking forward to reading the sequel, Twelve Bones, when it is released in October 2023!
What I'm not sure about is where we are with writing representation. For a while, I wouldn't have considered this "own voices" since the author is a white nondisabled woman, but now... I am not sure. She does mention sensitivity readers, and this has been out long enough that any controversy about it would have surfaced, so I may go ahead and buy a copy. This is the type of book that my readers liked twenty years ago, before middle grade skewed younger and younger. Sort of a Garth Nix or Neil Gaiman vibe.
No comments:
Post a Comment