Part of the reason for my renewed interest in reading YA is that I've had a lot of requests lately for genres that I just didn't have a lot of ideas for. The two big ones causing difficulty are horror and mystery. For many of my kids, I have no problem handing them a non-YA if it's in their interest area, but I don't feel as comfortable doing that with either Horror or Mystery. It's probably already obvious, but both those genres tend to have disturbing or graphic scenes. (There can also be a surprising amount of sex.) Classic authors are a little safer than contemporary ones, but getting a kid to read something described as classic has its own pitfalls.
In any case, I'm delighted when I find something good that meets my needs. I've been a fan of V.E. Schwab for a while, but this is my first foray into her YA material. I just finished the Cassidy Blake series and I really hope that she's planning to write more (although I suspect she's done with this one.) Cassidy is a 12 year old who had a nearly tragic accident the year before the beginning of the series. She fell into an icy river and temporarily died. She was saved by a ghost named Jacob who is now tangled up with her and is, in effect, haunting her. Additionally, she can now cross the veil and interact with ghosts.
Cassidy's parents are co-authors of a series of books about ghosts. Their books get optioned for a television series, so Cassidy gets to go on a whirlwind tour of the most haunted cities in the world. Of course, this turns into a problem since A-it turns out that Cassidy is supposed to be doing something with the ghosts and B-not all ghosts are friendly.
City of Ghosts - set in Edinburgh. Cassidy meets a fellow veil-walker and encounters a murderous ghost. In this volume Cassidy transitions from a miserable pre-teen to a young woman with a purpose. It's a solid self-discovery story with a seriously creepy opponent.
Tunnel of Bones - set in Paris. After the events of the previous book, Cassidy has to work to regain the trust of her parents while dealing with a violent poltergeist she accidently attracted. None of the methods she learned in the previous book seem to be working. In this volume, Cassidy solidifies her abilities and gains confidence.
Bridge of Souls - set in New Orleans. Maybe the end of the series...maybe not. This one's all about relationships. Cassidy must work to save both Jacob (her ghost) and Lara (the other veil-walker from the first book) after she attracts the attention of an Emissary of Death.
Overall, it's an excellent series with a lot of good character growth for Cassidy. I'm really pleased to add them to my classroom library.
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