A Properly Unhaunted Place

June 19, 2017
Rosa Díaz is not happy about moving to the town of Ingot, “the only unhaunted place Rosa had ever heard of.” As the daughter of a renowned “appeasement specialist,” trained to calm supernatural entities, Rosa knows that it’s downright unnatural that Ingot’s library isn’t haunted. Venturing out from her windowless apartment in the library’s basement, Rosa meets Jasper Chavalier, the 11-year-old son of two actors at the local Renaissance fair. After a vengeful, possessed tree attacks the festival, Rosa realizes that something sinister is behind Ingot’s lack of hauntings, leading her and Jasper to confront a surprising villain. National Book Award winner Alexander (Goblin Secrets) neatly inverts the typical ghost story, creating a supernatural landscape in which hauntings are part of the fabric of life and go hand in hand with respecting and honoring the departed. The friends’ realization that they must rely on themselves, not their parents, is relatable and poignant: Rosa’s efforts to accept her mother’s shortcomings and Jasper’s struggle to find his inner hero add depth to this charming mystery. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary.

Starred review from June 15, 2017
In a world where hauntings are endemic, Rosa Diaz finds herself in a town suspiciously devoid of ghostly activity in Alexander's (Nomad, 2016, etc.) latest. Latina protagonist Rosa is not your usual new-to-town middle school student. Rosa is an apprentice appeasement specialist. Her skills in placating restless souls are going to waste in the small town of Ingot, a place where people go to escape their hauntings, not to appease them. The placid lack of supernatural phenomena ends when an angry spirit gate-crashes opening day of the town Renaissance festival embodied in the carcass of a mountain lion. With the help of a new acquaintance, 11-year-old mixed-race (black/white) Jasper, Rosa sets out to solve the mysteries of where the phantom came from and why no others exist in this quaint town. Alexander does an excellent job of building a contemporary world in which the paranormal is nevertheless ubiquitous and expected. This haunted world begs for further exploration. Though it's a perfectly enjoyable tale on a purely superficial level, readers who choose to dig deeper will find an engrossing exploration of complicated grief and what damage may be wrought when negative emotions are barricaded away rather than addressed. A fun and fast-paced supernatural mystery with secret depths for those who dare explore them. (Paranormal adventure. 8-12)

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July 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-Ghosts and spirits live everywhere, except in the town of Ingot. Eleven-year-old Rosa Diaz and her mother have relocated to the sleepy hamlet following the death of Rosa's father. Accustomed to the big city, Rosa questions why her mother would move them to such a dead place. Rosa's mother is an "appeasement librarian," endowed with the ability to comfort ghostly spirits. Libraries and books are usually brimming with ghostly energy but not, unfortunately, in the ghost-free Ingot library. Rosa feels her mother's particular talents are wasted until the girl attends Ingot's yearly Renaissance Festival. The festival is attacked by a dynamic evil spirit that renders her mother defenseless. It is up to Rosa to uncover the town's supernatural goings-on. She befriends a local boy named Jasper. United, they fight to bring justice to the living and the dead. Though the writing is clear and the narrative unfolds quickly, the characters are somewhat flat. The world-building is similarly wanting; the spells and objects used to manipulate the ghost come out of nowhere and don't feel believable. VERDICT While the cute cover and fast pace may attract fans of ghost stories, a lack of character development limits this title's appeal.-Sada Mozer, Los Angeles Public Library

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