Starred review from September 7, 2015
Nineteen-year-old aspiring documentarian Wes Auckerman is days away from showing his short film at an NYU summer workshop when a strange girl appears during a friend's film shoot. Meanwhile, almost two centuries earlier, beautiful, coy Annatje "Annie" Van Sinderen is attempting to uncover the truth behind her father's canal business dealings, specifically the reason why the Brotherhood of the Luddites would label her father a "slavemonger." Oscillating between Wes and Annie's viewpoints, Howe (Conversion) cleverly blends Annie's story and Wes's infatuation with another enigmatic young womanâfreegan, anarchistic Maddieâwho proves to be much more than she seems. As Annie runs out of time to unlock the connections between her family and the Brotherhood, and Wes prepares for his film reveal, both make choices that will alter their futures. With aplomb, Howe captures the tricky distinctions of adolescence, especially the challenges in trusting one's inner voice. Annie's movements from past to present are hauntingly etched, creating an eeriness that lingers after the novel's romantic ending. Ages 12âup. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor.
Starred review from September 1, 2015
Gr 9 Up-Howe's latest is a tautly paced work that blends historical fiction, romance, and the supernatural. While spending the summer at New York University studying film, Wes becomes fascinated with an oddly dressed but hauntingly lovely girl. Annie, he eventually learns, is a ghost (though that word is never used), flickering between her time (1825) and his. The two attempt to figure out why Annie is here, as they begin to develop feelings for each other. Complicating matters is Maddie, a defiantly bohemian hipster whom Wes finds equally entrancing-and who's also a part of the puzzle. Though Howe employs a well-worn trope-the concept of a spirit who can't rest until a terrible wrong is rectified-she does so deftly, ratcheting up the tension as she switches between the protagonists' first-person perspectives and weaving in themes of class and privilege. While Wes and Annie are separated by nearly two centuries, Howe nails their voices-that of an insecure film student yearning to make his mark and of the upper-class young woman attempting to break free from a gilded cage-imbuing them with relatable turmoil and angst. The language is immediate and gripping, with a hint of sensuality; the surreal, eerie chapters told from Annie's understandably confused perspective contrast wonderfully with Wes's more straightforward sections, and Howe's exploration of New York City, both past and present, is spot on. VERDICT A thought-provoking, intelligent work of suspense that will resonate with fans of Adele Griffin's Tighter (Knopf, 2011) and Nova Ren Suma's The Walls Around Us (Algonquin, 2015).-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal
Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2016
Annie, a ghost in limbo between the present day and her mid-nineteenth-century past, recruits NYU student Wes--an aspiring documentarian with "the sight"--to help her uncover the connections between the Erie Canal, slavery, a mysterious 1825 barge explosion, and her family. Despite thinly constructed relationships, the pair's detective work proves entertaining, and the well-placed twists are rewarding.
(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)