Echoes Between Us

November 1, 2019
In Veronica's world, things are not always what they seem--and she's comfortable with that. But what else would you expect from a girl who lives with the ghost of her mother and celebrates holidays on the wrong days? Her friends are happy to go along with Veronica's quirks, but the other kids at school think she's weird. When Sawyer, who is part of the popular group and struggles with his overly involved, alcoholic mother, moves into the apartment downstairs from Veronica, she doesn't suspect that it will change her life. First, Veronica and Sawyer pair up to work on a class assignment and become amateur ghost hunters. Then, they start to fall for each other as they visit haunted spots around town. But as they grow closer, there's always the looming specter of Veronica's debilitating migraines--she lives in fear of a life-threatening disease. Can Sawyer handle that? This spooky teen drama is narrated in Veronica's and Sawyer's first-person voices in alternating chapters. McGarry's (Only a Breath Apart, 2019, etc.) characters are lively and sympathetic, though their circumstances often seem overly dramatic. The book is also packed to bursting with a slew of issues that can feel overwhelming. Veronica and Sawyer are white, and the cast includes characters who are black, Mexican American, and lesbian. A sweet teen love story that is weighted by an overflow of drama. (Fiction. 13-18)

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December 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-In this enthralling book, Veronica, a misfit who sees ghosts and suffers from terrible migraines, meets and falls for Sawyer, a popular jock with secrets of his own. Veronica spends lots of time alone in her family's big, seemingly haunted house ever since her mom passed away from the same type of brain tumor that she has. Her dad is a long-distance trucker and gives her lots of free rein, though Veronica has many close friends who look out for her. When Sawyer moves into the apartment on the first floor of Veronica's house, he becomes mesmerized by her fearlessness, confidence, and beauty. The two end up working on a school project together and subsequently give in to their inescapable attraction. This story provides lots of thrills and chills-from suggesting that malevolent ghosts might be real (and terrorizing Sawyer's younger sister), to Veronica's growing sickness, to Sawyer's dangerous adrenaline addiction and troubled home life. The book also touches on the classic trope of a popular boy dating an unpopular girl and how this relationship sends ripples through both parties' social worlds. In short, the story feels quite familiar but will keep the pages turning. VERDICT This book is best suited for a collection for older teens who read Sarah Dessen and might have loved Twilight if they had been born a decade earlier. A romantic thrill ride with a wholly satisfying ending.-Shannon O'Connor, Unami Middle School, Chalfont, PA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 23, 2019
McGarry (Only a Breath Apart) draws readers deeply into a ghostly world. Sawyer is a 17-year-old high school senior in Kentucky. Popular and athletic, he seems to have everything together, despite some reading difficulties. Also 17, Veronica is the school’s resident weird girl, who marches to her own beat and doesn’t care what people think. Veronica ends up having to partner with skeptical Sawyer for a senior thesis on her favorite topic: ghosts. As they work together, the pair begins to acknowledge their own difficulties: Veronica has a brain tumor, like her mother, and Sawyer is managing his divorced parents and a little sister he’s helping to raise. The teens’ developing romance is secondary to the story’s exploration of challenging subjects, including death, enabling, and addiction recovery. Instead of sensationalizing these topics, though, McGarry expertly normalizes them, and in doing so helps to break social stigmas and encourage frank dialogue. An unusually honest, gracefully crafted portrayal of contemporary teen life. Ages 13–up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary.