When They Fade

October 3, 2016
After Tatum reveals that her friend Charlotte is having an affair with a teacher, the entire school turns on Tatum, haranguing her online, defacing her locker, and vandalizing her car. When Tatum picks up a hitchhiker named Molly one night, the teenager leaves her with a warning ("You're going to die. It will hurt and you'll be alone") before vanishing into thin air. In this chilling ghost story, Molly, like the narrator in Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, exists in an in-between state, a stagnant island where the dead wait to "Fade" back into existence for the occasional haunting. The girls' parallel tragedies unravel through snippets of memories, then collide on the same back road in a small Washington State town 40 years apart. The relatively happy ending is a little too tidy given the overall dark tone, but it's certainly well-deserved after the traumas both girls suffer. As Roberts (The Bodies We Wear) traces betrayals and escalating violence in both the present and the past, readers will find Tatum and Molly's journeys hard to forget. Ages 14âup. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary.

Starred review from July 15, 2016
Canadian author Roberts delivers a modern ghost story.Tatum is a typical teen living in a small town just outside of Seattle. But lately, the white girl has been painted by virtually everyone in town as neurotic, a sociopath, and a liar, all thanks to her lifelong BFF, who let Tatum take the fall for her dangerous secret. Molly is also a white teen...but she died 40 years ago, not long after Woodstock. Molly now haunts the road and field where she was brutally murdered, hitchhiking and sharing her premonitions with the drivers who stop to give her rides before she fades away. She "sees" Tatum's upcoming murder and for once, can't just fade...she needs to find a way to help Tatum survive. For her part, Tatum feels the need to help Molly cross over, trying to discover what's holding her in limbo. As these two disparate girls who have so much in common struggle to bridge the gap between their two incredibly different planes of existence, their determination to help each other gives them the courage to change the worlds they live in. Each girl's story unfolds in interwoven narratives, Molly's in the first person and Tatum's in the third, making one seamless tale that is both beautiful and haunting. Once read, these characters and their respective mysteries will linger. A satisfying read that tackles heavy issues and is never weighed down by them. (Paranormal suspense. 14-18)

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September 1, 2016

Gr 10 Up-A dark novel about friendship, with a modern ghost story twist. Tatum's best friend Claudette has a big secret, and Tatum tells an adult to help her friend. When Claudette spins a web of lies so thick that the town doesn't believe Tatum's tale, Tatum isolates herself, hoping that the escalating attacks and brutal bullying will eventually stop. Molly, a hitchhiking ghost, was violently murdered in 1970 after meeting a boy at Woodstock and traveling with his hippie commune. She goes to an atypical afterlife where she and other ghosts who died violent deaths wait until it's time to haunt the spots where they died (called "fading"). Molly is able to deliver messages to the people who pick her up. As their stories intertwine, both girls have to trust each other in order to save themselves from the evils that haunt them. Tatum and Molly forge a friendship that transcends life and death as Roberts deftly weaves past and present. The plot is equal parts thrilling and heartbreaking. Chapters alternate between first person (Molly) and third person (Tatum), and the young women are strong characters who will stay with readers long after the book is finished. Potentially disturbing themes are present throughout, including extreme bullying and violence, depiction of violent murder, and sex with a minor. However, these issues are treated with age-appropriate care and contribute directly to each character's growth. VERDICT A must-read for fans of Lauren Oliver's Vanishing Girls or E. Lockhart's We Were Liars.-Jessica Holland, University of Kentucky, Lexington

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