Ghosted and Falling Like Snow

Van Draanen, Wendelin. Ghosted

October 6, 2026 by Holiday House

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus 

When she was eight years old, Gemma met a ghost in the cemetery of St. Agnes' church in Dove Crossing while looking for a lost earring. Jimmy had been a ghost for over 100 years, and he and five others-- the Colonel, Haggy, Trip, and Shotgun-- hung out with him, calling their group the Ethereals. While they all get along, being stuck in a graveyard for eternity is a bit boring. When Gemma comes back to the cemetery to read to them, they all enjoy the change of pace. When Gemma turns 15, however, she and Jimmy, who is also 15, share a moment and start to fall in love. Neither are quite sure what to do. Gemma is dealing with other issues; her former friend, Lexy, turned against her when Gemma first mentioned the ghosts to her, and now that the two are in high school, has spread rumors that Gemma sacrifices cats in the cemetery every Halloween. Gemma's younger brother, Matthew, is upset about this, since people make fun of him as well. After finding a friend in fellow violin player, Mae Wu, Gemma is emboldened to get back at Lexy. She also heard from the Ethereals that there was a ghost who escaped 50 years ago, a nanny named Mariela who worked for the Langston family and disappeared after their daughter, Sarah, said something to her. Gemma manages to hunt down Sarah, who is now in her sixties, and talk to her. Sarah relates that she said Mariela's name and told her that she loved her, but that Mariela's ghost became vengeful and contributed to her father's death! Along with Matthew and his friends, Gemma plans an elaborate ruse to shed light on Lexy's mean spirited bullying, making sure to be seen very publically with Mae, playing violin at the town Spooktacular while Lexy is in the cemetary. Sure enough, Lexy arrives with friends, and is surprised not only by being haunted by the Ethereals, but being videotaped by Matthew! This puts an end to the rumors, but Gemma still doesn't know how to deal with Jimmy. She's very downhearted, and her parents are concerned. Falling in love with a ghost can't possibly end well, right? I don't want to say anything more, because there are a lot of surprising twists and turns that made this a marvellously sweet romance!

Strengths: Sigh. I enjoyed this one a lot. It had parents who were present and annoying; this even helped the plot, since they forbade Gemma and her brothers from having sell phones. (But later in the book discussed how this had hurt Gemma's social life-- brilliant!) There's friend drama with the evil Lexy; no, Gemma's mom, we don't care that her parents are divorcing and she has a hard life! It was also cool to see her brother Matthew be so supportive. The idea of a group of ghosts in a picturesque cemetery is very appealing, and there is some discussion about why they all might have been stuck. Jimmy is a great character, and the romance makes perfect sense, even as the two don't know how it could possibly work. The best part of the book is the resolution and ending, but I don't want to give that away. Such a fun book. 
Weaknesses: Gemma must have been reading Goldman's 1973 The Princess Bride to the ghosts, but I don't think it was ever mentioned by name. I wasn't a huge fan of Lexy's mother being described as a "Karen"; can we just stop that now? 
What I really think: Last year, I had one student obsessed with Plum's 2011 Die for Me, Schwab's 2018 City of Ghosts)and Ruby's 2013 Rebel Spirits, and this is the perfect book for her. Van Draanen's author note indicated that she's been thinking about this story for about ten years, which makes perfect sense. There used to be a lot of paranomal young adult romances that were also interesting to middle grade readers, but it's been a long time since there has been something this charming! Definitely buying a copy of this for my school library, and this might entice readers who prefer murder mysterious to take a look at paranormal romances, since Van Draanen's The Steps is popular. 

Of course, after recently attending a funeral at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, I was just thinking that Lindsay Currie needed to set a book there. It's a fun city to visit for a week for research, right?

Wilson, Misty. Falling Like Snow (Bramble Falls #2)

October 6, 2026 by Simon & Schuster

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sloane Sullivan is back after the fall festival in Falling Like Leaves, and looking forward to traveling to New York City with her cousin Ellis. Her plans are scuttled when her mother, Naomi, decides as mayor that the town is having a winter festival to keep up the interest in their town... in two days! Along with her best friend, Asher Yoshida, Sloane and her friends work to set up activities for the festival and deal with lots of friend, family, and romantic drama. 

The demand for seasonal romance books has been HUGE this year, and this is a fun and engaging series. We all want to live somewhere like Bramble Falls, with its cute stores and walkable neighborhoods. This did have some more mature language (several f-words), which would be fine for high school. It was a little longer and introspective than my students usually want; they are huge fans of the 150 page Lee Heart romances. For high school libraries, this is a perfect choice and  available in a hardbound, prebind, and paperback.