The Other Ones

June 15, 2024
A 16-year-old boy confronts his ghosts with a little help from his friends in this debut that has a dollop of the fantastical. Salem Amani lives at 17 Yew Tree Lane with his mother and Asha, his hardworking older sister. The lore in their English village is that the house is haunted, and people steer clear of it. Sal (no one can properly pronounce the name his late Egyptian father chose) wants to be left alone and not address the issue of any ghosts. He has just one friend, Dirk, until new arrival Pax shows up on his doorstep with a casserole in hand, a veritable invitation to friendship. At first, Sal is put off by Pax, particularly his paranormal curiosity, but soon the three boys are hanging out at school. They also adopt popular Elsie, who's been ousted from her friend group. The four become a staple, and Sal and Pax fall hard for each other, a relationship that's perhaps the most ebullient element of Sal's life. But parts of his life still gnaw at Sal: the loss of his father five years ago, his white mother's absentee parenting, and the constant replaying of a night that fills him with a pained terror. Grief is a resounding character in this strongly written novel, a low-ebbing throb that grows louder as Sal hides further behind his wall of sadness. A beautifully executed queer romance and exploration of family that's haunted by loss and elevated by love. (Fiction. 12-18)

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August 23, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Sal's father passed away five years ago, but the memory of him still haunts Sal's family to this day. Not to mention that Sal's house is known throughout the village for being allegedly haunted, bringing his family much unwanted attention. One day a strange boy named Pax moves into the graveyard cottage and takes a liking to both Sal and the ghosts that haunt him. What follows is a cozy story that recreates the feeling of falling in love for the first time that feels authentically sweet. Hart succeeds in balancing heft and romance without overstaying her welcome in either area. The plot balances both Sal's budding romance with Pax and the dynamics of a family still reeling in grief. Death looms over the entirety of the story, and it plays an integral role in bringing Sal closer to his friends, family, and eventual boyfriend, Pax. This book is a perfect read for fall and winter as Hart does a masterful job of providing the right amount of details of the season and environment that could otherwise be easily overdone. Sal and his sister Asha are biracial Egyptian and white while the supporting cast read as white. VERDICT Put this book in the hands of fans of Alice Oseman's Heartstopper and Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera's What If It's Us and they will not be able to put it down.-Zach Basler

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