Starting a new school in sophomore year is tough, and Jessie is worried she won't make friends. Especially once people find out that she sort of zones out now and again. Jessie herself isn't quite sure what happens when she has her episodes, but she senses other people, and hears whispers and bits of laughter. Her old friends just teased her about it and accepted it as a personal quirk, but she's afraid her new school won't be as tolerant. And in the meantime, she's getting awfully lonely. So when a group of girls offers up a dare in exchange to join their group, Jessie jumps at the chance. Only now that she's standing at the cemetery gates, she's starting to have second thoughts.
The dare is relatively simple: Jessie is to sneak into the huge Laurel Hill Cemetery after hours by herself and hunt down 10 specific gravesites. To prove she finds them, she must make a rubbing of each tombstone. Jessie is desperate, not stupid; she knows the girls are just playing a joke on her. But she hopes that in pulling off their dare, she'll impress them enough to make a few friends. So she slips through the closed gates after dark, all alone, and hopes for the best.
Only it turns out, she's not all alone. Almost immediately, she runs into Paul, a young caretaker of the cemetery. He explains that a group of actors has gathered that night to rehearse the Tombstone Tea, an event at the cemetery where visitors can come and talk to actors playing the parts of the dead. Paul agrees to help Jessie find the 10 tombstones and introduce her to a few of the actors along the way.
To Jessie, the actors seemed to be playing their parts too well, especially a woman named Jenny who is searching for her daughter. Maybe these so-called actors aren't who they say they are; or, perhaps, they are who they say they are and not actors at all. And Jessie discovers she has a special gift that allows her to communicate with them. But then the situation grows out of control when Jenny takes a particular interest in Jessie, and decides she wants Jessie to stay with her in the cemetery...forever.
Running Press Teens brings us Joanne Dahme's third riveting novel, complete with the exquisite writing style we've come to expect from this talented author. Dahme has a welcome way of pulling the emotions of the reader to the surface in order to really feel her story, and uses dramatic descriptions that touch every sense; touch, taste, smell, sight and sound are all fulfilled and satisfied. Plus, her vivid characters demand attention and feel so alive (especially the dead ones). Fans can look forward to her next book, CONTAGION, due out in the fall of 2010.
--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman
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Reviews with images
Great characters but falls short
Ah, another story detailing the attraction between the living and one of the dead... I've read a few of these not-quite-romances, and actually it's a genre I rather enjoy.The primary setting of this book is Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, one of the most famous of the large Victorian-era cemeteries in the US. I would recommend that anyone reading the story do a bit of on-line research regarding the location; if you get a sense of place, it will help bring the story to life in your mind. A quick internet search will bring up dozens of photos of the vistas this cemetery affords---what a marvellous place to wander through! Some really amazing monuments, there.The story is divided (roughly) into thirds, with the first section of the book telling of Jessie's misadventures in the cemetery at night. The second is a flashback giving a bit of Paul the ghost's background (Paul is of course simply dreamy---ha!). And the third brings all the story elements together.It is, unfortunately, the third section in which the book falls short. The big climax of the plot is resoundingly ANTIclimactic; really, it was quite disappointing for me. Still, I liked both of the main characters; would love to read another story about them getting into some sort of adventure. So, despite the book's shortcomings I'm still going to recommend it for ghost-story fans.The dust jacket on this one isn't bad, but I have to say it is not the most flattering portrait of Jessie, that's for sure! Well, I mean it isn't terrible, but it does seem to focus on her, um, rear end...
