What Stays Buried

by Suzanne Young

Overview

A Bram Stoker Award nominee! In her first book for middle grade readers, New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young brings together a thrilling ghost story, a heartfelt coming of age journey, and a poignant reminder that those we’ve loved and lost are never far away—perfect for fans of Bone Hollow and The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street.

Twelve-year-old Calista Wynn will lose her ability to speak with the dead on her thirteenth birthday.

And with only a few weeks left, children have started going missing.

When Calista meets the Tall Lady—an angry spirit with a grudge against Calista, her family, and the entire town—she knows she’s found the ghost responsible for the disappearances.

It’s up to Calista, the only one who can see the Tall Lady, to stop her. If she doesn’t, Calista won’t just lose her powers…she’ll lose everyone she has left.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063257146
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/07/2023
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	692,916
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Program series. Originally from New York, Suzanne is a dual US and Italian citizen, currently living in the Veneto region of Italy with her family. She has published more than twenty novels, including the Program series, Girls with Sharp Sticks series, In Nightfall, and her middle grade debut, What Stays Buried. When not writing, Suzanne is the founder of Writing in Italy—an Italian retreat and tour company. Follow Suzanne and her three photogenic dogs on Instagram at @authorsuzanneyoung.

Editorial Reviews

01/16/2023

In her middle grade debut, Young (the Girls with Sharp Sticks series) spins a high-stakes, fast-moving ghost story emphasizing intergenerational family connections. Twelve-year-old medium Calista Wynn inherited both her family’s gift for communing with the dead and the family curse that will cause her to lose that power on her 13th birthday, the age her aunt Virginia died. Dreading the approaching birthday, which will also strip her of the ability to maintain a relationship with her late father and grandmother, Calista encounters a new terror when Edwina Swift, the ghost of Virginia’s murderer, returns to exact revenge on the descendants of the town vigilantes who executed her. As Edwina abducts children and churns up a powerful dark spell, Calista races against her fading gift to stop Edwina before she can claim her next intended victim, Calista’s younger sister—the youngest Wynn girl with the family powers. Young employs spine-tingling horror tropes to drum up suspense, pitting a stock villain against a heroic magical family to drive the plot toward its reckoning. A consequential magic system facilitates explorations of grief and closure after loss. Characters default to white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Lane Heymont, Tobias Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"What Stays Buried is a gripping ghost story full of vivid characters, heartache, wonder, love, and hope. Haunting in all the best ways!" — Lisa McMann, NYT bestselling author of The Unwanteds and The Forgotten Five: Map of Flames

"An exciting, well-paced, and well-structured plot." — Kirkus Reviews

"The novel shows strong family bonds across generations and worlds, while overarching themes of the power of love, family, and friendship make this a solid entry into horror for adventurous readers. Well-developed protagonist and solid plotting." — School Library Journal

"A high-stakes, fast-moving ghost story. Young employs spine-tingling horror tropes to drum up suspense. A consequential magic system facilitates explorations of grief and closure after loss." — Publishers Weekly

"This horror-saturated fantasy delivers a heart palpitating adventure." — Booklist

From the Publisher

“What Stays Buried is a gripping ghost story full of vivid characters, heartache, wonder, love, and hope. Haunting in all the best ways!”

New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann

09/29/2023

Gr 6 Up—Calista Wynn sees dead people. But she won't much longer. Once she turns 13 (in a week), her ability to communicate with ghosts will disappear. In this middle grade debut, Calista must rush to use her powers to save the disappearing children in her town of Meadowmere, NY, before it's too late. Calista comes from a long line of mediums who can speak to ghosts but lose their powers on their 13th birthdays. With the help of the ghosts of her father and grandmother, Calista works to stop Edwina Swift, the evil "Tall Woman" who has taken numerous children, including Calista's sister Molly, to make herself more powerful. Young's suspenseful novel is dark; with seances, curses, mediums, and possessions, some readers may find aspects of the book terrifying. Yet, the novel also shows strong family bonds across generations and worlds, while overarching themes of the power of love, family, and friendship make this a solid entry into horror for adventurous readers. VERDICT Those with an interest in the occult will enjoy this book for the well-developed protagonist and solid plotting.—Rebekah J. Buchanan

School Library Journal

2023-01-12
A young medium comes into her power.

Calista does not want to turn 13. For now she can see and talk to ghosts and help them find peace. But as per family tradition, once her 13th birthday comes (in just one week’s time), that sight will disappear, leaving her with far less powerful medium abilities. What’s worse, she will no longer be able to talk to her beloved father and grandmother, whose spirits are sticking around to help. Little sister Molly hasn’t come into her abilities yet, but she is suddenly pestered by an evil force. First ominously referred to as the Tall Lady, the spiteful ghost Edwina Swift cursed the Wynn family (who are cued as White) and has been using their souls to gain unimaginable power. When young people in Calista’s small New York town of Meadowmere start disappearing, it’s up to her to race against time to find them and defeat Edwina for good. An exciting, well-paced, and well-structured plot coexists with clunky, awkward prose and inconsistent worldbuilding, taming some truly terrifying scenes of demonic possession and ghostly malice. Close third-person narration drags down the storytelling with constant explanations rather than revelations, but some young readers will still enjoy the frights and triumphs.

Clunky but creepy. (Paranormal. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews