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320 pp.
| HarperCollins/Walden Pond
| January, 2021
|
Trade
ISBN 978-0-06-291609-9
$16.99
|
Ebook
ISBN 978-0-06-291611-2
$9.99
(
2)
4-6
Since his father left the family, Cooper has floundered in his friendships and schoolwork. Into this void comes a mystery he is all too happy to distract himself with. Cooper and his little sister, Jess, discover that the odd new girl in the house across the alley wears the same crest on her jacket as was found on the clothing of victims of several disasters, including a British train accident, a South Korean shopping mall collapse, and the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. How are they connected? How does Cooper's new school friend fit in? Cooper and Jess discover a world between life and death where two children are stranded, on a quest that remains a mystery until the very end of the novel. Ansari (
The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly) writes an engaging fantasy/mystery/family story. Cooper, like the ghosts Elena and Gus, is living somewhere "in between," stuck with one failed vision of his family and unable to create a new one without help. The fantasy builds around historical mysteries and speeds up as it approaches the climax, when readers realize that yet another disaster is due and that Cooper and Jess may be two of the victims.