The Other Ones

by Fran Hart

Overview

A beautiful and unputdownable story about love, friendship, and the ghosts that grief can leave behind, The Other Ones is a heartfelt, contemporary romance with a haunting twist...

Salem Amani is a world-weary sixteen-year-old living with his mother and older sister in a haunted house. But all Sal really wants is to be ordinary, which is hard to do when you live in a house full of ghosts. And when a strange boy arrives on his doorstep asking more questions than he’s at all comfortable with, Sal’s efforts to be ordinary are put under even greater strain. Until Pax makes his offer: “I could help you with the hauntings...I’m good with ghosts.”

But despite his initial dislike of Pax, Sal can’t help but find himself unexpectedly drawn to the boy. And as the two grow closer, and Pax offers to help Sal scare away his ghosts for good, Sal finds himself sinking deeper into a lie concealing the truth about his family.

When the true nature of the “hauntings” is revealed, Sal must confront reality – or risk losing Pax for good.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781339016276
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/20/2024
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	590,621
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Fran Hart is a graphic designer from West Yorkshire, who loves bringing new ideas to life in her writing. After studying English Literature for a year at university, she changed disciplines and went on to graduate with a BA in Graphic Design. She remains a self-confessed bookworm and, as a child, was regularly told off for reading under the table during math lessons. Fran’s debut novel, The Other Ones, is a contemporary YA ghost story with a twist. It’s a story about being different, friendship, acceptance, and first love, and was written for anyone who has ever felt like the odd one out.

Editorial Reviews

08/23/2024

Gr 9 Up—Sal's father passed away five years ago, but the memory of him still haunts Sal's family to this day. Not to mention that Sal's house is known throughout the village for being allegedly haunted, bringing his family much unwanted attention. One day a strange boy named Pax moves into the graveyard cottage and takes a liking to both Sal and the ghosts that haunt him. What follows is a cozy story that recreates the feeling of falling in love for the first time that feels authentically sweet. Hart succeeds in balancing heft and romance without overstaying her welcome in either area. The plot balances both Sal's budding romance with Pax and the dynamics of a family still reeling in grief. Death looms over the entirety of the story, and it plays an integral role in bringing Sal closer to his friends, family, and eventual boyfriend, Pax. This book is a perfect read for fall and winter as Hart does a masterful job of providing the right amount of details of the season and environment that could otherwise be easily overdone. Sal and his sister Asha are biracial Egyptian and white while the supporting cast read as white. VERDICT Put this book in the hands of fans of Alice Oseman's Heartstopper and Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera's What If It's Us and they will not be able to put it down.—Zach Basler

School Library Journal

2024-05-17
A 16-year-old boy confronts his ghosts with a little help from his friendsin this debut that has a dollop of the fantastical.

Salem Amani lives at 17 Yew Tree Lane with his mother and Asha, his hardworking older sister. The lore in their English village is that the house is haunted, and people steer clear of it. Sal (no one can properly pronounce the name his late Egyptian father chose) wants to be left alone and not address the issue of any ghosts. He has just one friend, Dirk, until new arrival Pax shows up on his doorstep with a casserole in hand, a veritable invitation to friendship. At first, Sal is put off by Pax, particularly his paranormal curiosity, but soon the three boys are hanging out at school. They also adopt popular Elsie, who’s been ousted from her friend group. The four become a staple, and Sal and Pax fall hard for each other, a relationship that’s perhaps the most ebullient element of Sal’s life. But parts of his life still gnaw at Sal: the loss of his father five years ago, his white mother’s absentee parenting, and the constant replaying of a night that fills him with a pained terror. Grief is a resounding character in this strongly written novel, a low-ebbing throb that grows louder as Sal hides further behind his wall of sadness.

A beautifully executed queer romance and exploration of family that’s haunted by loss and elevated by love. (Fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews