The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

January 26, 2015
Upon turning 16, Sunshine Griffith suddenly develops the power to perceive paranormal activity and comes to the chilling realization that her new home in rainy Washington State is haunted by a girl who was brutally murdered and the demon responsible for her death. First in a series based on a popular YouTube series, this adaptation attempts to turn quick-cut video special effects into a gripping tale. On paper, the pace grows tedious as Sunshine’s internal monologue flits among concerns about her busy mother’s frequent absences, boys, and the increasingly creepy events taking place in her house. Coupled with contrived banter, confusingly interspersed musings of an omniscient narrator watching over Sunshine’s life, and a penchant for blatantly laying out what Sunshine is feeling (“I’m not sad anymore. I’m angry”), the novel’s attempt to build mystery and suspense around Sunshine’s newfound ability falls short. There are some harrowing scenes, as when the ghost destroys the family bathroom, but by and large the story’s chills are on the light side. Ages 12–up. Agent: Mollie Glick, Foundry Literary + Media.

January 15, 2015
Paranormal activity threatens to consume the life of a not-so-average teenage girl.In the wake of her 16th birthday, Sunshine and her mother move to the Pacific Northwest to start fresh. Spooky doings begin in the pair's new house almost immediately, but only Sunshine is able to truly feel the spirit's presence. With the help of her cute and artsy school chum, Nolan, Sunshine works to unravel the specter's mysteries before it's too late. In doing so, Sunshine discovers some things about her past that set her on a path she could never have imagined. The author's adaptation of her popular YouTube series successfully translates the bumps and thrills fans will be looking for. The tone of the novel is neither grotesque horror nor cheap thrills but the sweet spot in between. It's important for a horror novel to be equal parts scary and fun, and the author achieves an excellent balance here. The book's final pages plant seeds for sequels, but if readers were to stop here, they would find themselves feeling quite satisfied, though further reading will be hard to resist. Sunshine's adventure is filled with bumps in the night and shadowy figures, alluding to a larger mystery and larger world that has plenty to offer imaginative readers who grew up on Goosebumps and the like. Suspenseful, exciting and endlessly entertaining. (Paranormal suspense. 12-16)

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March 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-In this combination of ghost and coming-of-age story, readers follow Sunshine Griffith as she navigates the obstacles of a new school, boys, family, and, of course, her new and very haunted home. Sunshine and her mom move to Washington state from Texas for her mom's job. Their once strong and open relationship is soon sorely tested, not by the move but by something more supernatural. Sunshine starts to hear a little girl laughing and skipping around upstairs-a sound that only she can hear. She is soon fighting for her mother's life in this suspenseful tale. The chapters alternate between Sunshine's and the ghost's points of view, offering different perspectives on events. This sometimes frightening tale and series opener is based on a YouTube channel of the same name, so transmedia fans can enjoy both formats. Readers who appreciated holly Black's Doll Bones (2013) or Cassandra Clare's "City of Bones" series (both S. & S.) should consider picking up this creepy debut. VERDICT A good choice for readers who enjoy Holly Black-Julie Zimmerman, School Library Journal

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015
Grades 7-10 Sixteen-year-old Sunshine feels really out of place in the Pacific Northwest. Her interests set her apart from other teens, but now that she is without her lifelong best friend, she is adrift. Her mom is growing distant; her art teacher is a weirdo; she gets ill whenever she is close to Nolan, her one friend; and she is pretty sure her house is haunted. The haunting soon crescendos in a terrifying, water-drenched evening that leaves her mother decidedly changed. With Nolan's help, Sunshine begins to understand the magnitude of what is happening to and around her. Sunshine is a luiseach, a person with the ability to help wayward spirits move along, and now that her powers have emerged, she must face a terrifying test or lose everything dear to her. Sunshine's story started as a YouTube series, and this creepy, suspenseful story condenses the plot of the original and offers a more polished voice than the videos. Existing fans won't be the only ones eager for more of this strong but vulnerable heroine just awakening to her potential.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)