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Tuesday, August 06, 2024

It Happened to Anna

Mejia, Tehlor Kay. It Happened to Anna
August 6, 2024 by Delacorte Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sadie has been plagued by a jealous, vengeful ghost since she was a young child in Arizona. Her mother left years ago, and she and her father have moved back to his hometown in Idaho after the ghost caused the death of her best friend, Anna. Now, she is treading carefully, keeping to herself, and not making the mistake of befriending anyone else and incurring the ghost's wrath. When Charlotte, and exuberant graphic novel fan, talks to her, the lights flicker menacingly, and when Sadie attends the graphic novel club and talks to some of the members, further electric problems cause the club to let out early. While she's waiting for her father, she is approached by Mal, a waif like student with white blonde hair. Mal won't give up talking to her, so Sadie finally tells her the truth about the ghost... and Mal believes her. Not only that, but talking to Mal doesn't seem to rile up any evil forces. Relieved to finally have a friend, Sadie goes along with any activity Mal wants to do, like hanging out in the cemetery. Mal has an odd life; her overprotective, hard working parents insist that a nanny picks her up for lunch, she's not allowed to participate in any groups, but she is given the freedom to hang out after school. When Mal wants to pull some pranks like locking Ryder in the bathroom and shutting off the lights, dumping red Kool Aid "blood" on Marty's locker, or filling a back pack with worms and dirt, Sadie goes along with it even though the pranks make her uncomfortable. Mal even coerces Sadie into scratching an "M" into her ankle while Mal scratches an "S" into her own. When Mal wants to catch a rat and put it in Kelsey's desk (Sadie suspects that Mal knows Kelsey has been nice to her), Sadie helps, but regrets it at the last minute and lets the teacher know before Kelsey opens her desk. Sadie is so distraught that she stays home from school for several days, and when she returns, she finds out that Kelsey's cat was killed and left on the family's porch. When she talks to Mal, she denies any involvement and is nicer to Sadie. Sadie has been having nightmares about Anna and other students in distress, so she's relieved that her one friendship is still strong. When Mal wants to go out at midnight to an abandoned well, this doesn't seem like a great plan, and when Sadie tries to back out because she has also been invited to Charlotte's birthday party, Mal is not happy but says it's okay. When Sadie's father gets a call that Charlotte is missing, Sadie knows exactly where Charlotte is. She runs away, and finds Mal and Charlotte at the well. Mal seems intent on killing Charlotte, but Sadie manages to rescue her. Creepy secrets emerge, and Sadie, who has suffered for years, resigns herself to her own death. Will the ghost be victorious after all? 
Strengths: Mejia does an excellent job at dialing right in to middle grade fears. What's worse than having no friends? Having a vengeful ghost stalking you and threatening anyone who wants to BE your friend, of course. Not only that, but we've got the added tension of a friend who is pressuring Sadie to do things that she knows is wrong. Mal is elusive, and there are clues all along about her true nature that savvy readers will pick up, but the suspense is well developed and keeps the story very taut. We don't see a whole lot of Sadie's father, even though he is involved in talking to her teachers, getting her counseling, and wanting to know her whereabouts... sometimes. This seems very realistic. Charlotte is a great character, and she is very understanding about Sadie's situation, continuing to be friendly while not pushing her, and being a fantastic friend in the end. There are just enough classmates and staff members to round out the story, including Charlotte's friend Corey, who is nonbinary, and the counselor Mrs. Fitz, who gives Sadie good advice without asking too many questions. I enjoyed this one a lot, and am not surprised that Ms. Mejia found this too scary to work on at night!
Weaknesses: While I liked the explanation of why the mother left, I could have used more information about how exactly the ghost became attached to Sadie and also what happened to Anna. The explanation was there, but could have been a little clearer, and maybe have been delivered a little earlier in the story. It's a hard thing to balance; explanations and murderous ghosts!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing two copies, and this will be an enormous hit with fans of Dawson's Mine, Ford's The Lonely Ghost, and Currie's The Girl in White. Murderous ghosts really are the sweet spot for middle grade horror, and working in friend drama is definitely brilliant!

Ms. Yingling

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