Walk of the Spirits

by Richie Tankersley Cusick Narrated by Suzy Myers

Overview

When Miranda Barnes first sees the sleepy town of St. Yvette, Louisiana, with its moss-draped trees, above-ground cemeteries, and her grandfather's creepy historic home, she realizes that life as she knew it is officially over. Almost immediately, there seems to be something cloying at her. Something lonely and sad and . . . very pressing. Even at school and in the group project she's been thrown into, she can't escape it. Whispers when she's alone, shadows when no one is there to make them, and a distant pleading voice that wakes her from sleep. The other members in Miranda's group project, especially handsome Etienne, can see that Miranda is in distress. She is beginning to understand that, like her grandfather before her, she has a special gift of communicating with spirits who still walk the town of St. Yvette. And no matter where she turns, Miranda feels bound by their whispered pleas for help . . . unless she can somehow find a way to bring them peace.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up- A hurricane forces Miranda Barnes and her mother to relocate from Florida to the small bayou town of St. Yvette, LA, where they are taken in by Miranda's aunt and the grandfather the teen has never met. Miranda wants nothing more than to be left alone, but she is thrown immediately into a school project with cocky jock Parker, his cheerleader girlfriend Ashley, Goth girl Roo, cute Gage, and mysterious Etienne. Even worse, her nights are disturbed by unearthly screams. It turns out that Miranda has inherited Grandpa's talents as a medium, and his sudden death forces her to continue his work. She attempts to unravel the tragedy of a Civil War-era love story while helping her classmates put together a "haunted history" tour of the town, making a few tentative sparks with Etienne along the way. While the setup is promising, Cusick's supernatural romance doesn't generate much mystery or passion. The playful banter and innuendo among the teens is entertaining (if occasionally misplaced), but the rapidity with which most of Miranda's new friends accept her psychic abilities is unconvincing. Those who like their love stories spiced with the paranormal should stick with Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series (Little, Brown).-Christi Voth Esterle, Parker Library, CO

Kirkus Reviews

Having lost their home and all their possessions in a hurricane, Miranda Barnes and her mother are forced to seek refuge in St. Yvette, La., with relatives she has never met. At her new school, Miranda and the tightly knit group of friends who have adopted her into their circle begin to ferret out the dark secrets of St. Yvette in order to create a "ghost walk" for their history project. As she works on this class project and gets to know her estranged grandfather, Miranda discovers that ghosts and spirits can be all too real. It turns out that she and her grandfather share a special talent: They can hear the spirits' calls for help. Romance, danger and supernatural thrills abound as Miranda comes to terms with her destiny and makes a place for herself in her new home. Unfortunately, Etienne, a Cajun and one of Miranda's new friends, is disappointingly stereotyped in both behavior and speech patterns. Despite this, Cusick's fans will no doubt devour this new title, as will fans of Joan Lowery Nixon and Vivian Vande Velde. (Fiction. 12+)

Romantic Times Book Review

Cusick gives the new-girl-in-town plot the Southern gothic treatment in this charming, atmospheric novel. . . . vividly drawn.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172169380
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	01/22/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

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