The In-Between

Starred review from November 1, 2020

Gr 4-8-With an intriguing mystery and a heartwarming tale of friendship wrapped inside a ghost story, this is a sure hit. Cooper is dealing with his parents' divorce-his father has left him, his mother, and his sister for a new family. Cooper has to help his mother take care of his sister and monitor her blood sugar. Since the divorce, his friendships have fallen apart; Cooper has become more comfortable alone, seeking constant solitude and writing in his journal. Everything changes when a mysterious girl moves into an abandoned house nearby. She hardly speaks but always stares at him. When Cooper realizes the logo on her uniform is connected to major disasters throughout the world, he is drawn into a larger mystery. Could this strange girl have something to do with the disasters? Does her appearance mean a terrible disaster is coming here? Ansari knows how to balance a fast-paced plot with well-developed characters. She perfectly uses the "Mystery Box" technique by setting up questions about the eerie girl, driving readers' desire to keep turning pages. Cooper grows and develops friendships that will stay with him forever. The plot twist will hit readers in the gut, and makes this book unforgettable. VERDICT With a memorable twist and an awesome mystery, this title is too good to be missed. Perfect for fans of Mary Downing Hahn and "Goosebumps" grads looking for something a little spookier.-Patrick Tierney, Pascoag P.L., RI

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 16, 2020
With this eerie, expertly crafted tale, Ansari (The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly) explores grief, loss, and trauma—both personal and familial. Cooper, 12, feels overwhelmed, disconnected, and perpetually angry. Not only did his father abandon him, his mother, and 10-year-old sister, Jess, to start a new family, but Cooper is responsible for helping to manage Jess’s diabetes, an added duty that frequently frustrates him. When Jess persuades him to look into the mystery of Elena, the strange girl across the street, who seems somehow tied to a century-old tragedy, Cooper reluctantly agrees. The siblings also pull Cooper’s new friend Gus into the investigation, only to discover that Elena’s presence may herald disaster for them all. The fractious bond between Cooper and Jess and the easy friendship between Cooper and Gus give this story a solid emotional core that grounds it within its supernatural trappings. A spooky ambiguity regarding Elena’s true nature, meanwhile, paves the way for a deeper, more profound narrative when Cooper and the others learn the truth. Heartfelt and genuine, this one will speak to readers who feel invisible or overlooked. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners.

November 15, 2020
Chicago siblings Cooper and Jess unravel a mystery involving Elena, their strange new neighbor, and a series of historical disasters. Cooper's been cold and withdrawn from family and friends alike ever since his parents' marriage imploded and his father left them to start a new family. His younger sister, Jess, finds a nearly 100-year-old mystery--the Charfield railway disaster in England, where one of the dead was a boy, never identified, who was wearing a distinctive raven insignia that matches the one on Elena's private school blazer. Digging into the raven emblem, they find it appears on items worn by unidentified bodies after disasters. The more Cooper and Jess investigate, the more impossible everything seems. Soon, the supernatural takes on a darker cast, as Jess and Cooper discover that they're the ones in danger. The supernatural storyline's fear is juxtaposed with Cooper's inner turmoil. His intense emotional life is a constant grounding font of relatability, as he deals with anger, grief, and humiliation in the wake of his father's abandonment. The increasingly dangerous supernatural mystery (with an exceptionally well-described climax) is intriguing enough to make this a page-turner, but the characters and their powerfully thematic emotional journeys are what will make the book linger. Absent most physical descriptors, characters default to White. Jess is diabetic, and their family deals with economic hardship and classism. Haunting, engrossing, and thoughtful. (author's note) (Supernatural mystery. 8-14)

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December 1, 2020
Grades 5-8 Since his parents' divorce, Cooper has struggled to adjust to his dad's absence and their new life, preferring loneliness to the possibility of being hurt by someone--even his friends. But when his little sister, Jess, stumbles upon a mystery possibly involving the mysterious new girl next door, Cooper can't help being drawn in. He and Jess begin to uncover a mystery more complex than anything they could have imagined, learning of a terrible tragedy from long ago that may be connected to the mysterious new girl. As Cooper learns to manage his feelings and grow closer to his sister, they realize that another catastrophe may be coming, and they might be powerless to prevent it. Though Ansari's (The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly, 2019) latest begins as a spooky ghost-next-door story, it quickly develops into a mystery involving an intricate web of historical events, a separate dimension that exists "in between," and characters struggling with major life changes, such as divorce and illness. And readers won't see the final twist coming.

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