The Lonely Dead

Gr 9 UP—Women in Adele's family communicate with the dead but at a terrible cost. Her grandmother was lobotomized, and when Adele's dad died, her mom lost touch with reality and, shortly after, was killed in an accident. When Adele is caught talking to a long-dead Native American girl on a school field trip, she is diagnosed as schizophrenic and put on medication. It works, but leaves her feeling half alive. She stops taking it and a few weeks later goes to her childhood friend Tori's party. Nerves lead to drinking too much, too fast, and when she is caught kissing Tori's boyfriend, she flees, ending up in a blackout. Later, while walking through the wooded area of the local park, Tori's ghost calls from a shallow grave asking Adele to help find her killer. What follows is a taut, fast-paced, and, at times, scary tale as Adele tries to figure out who killed Tori. It's far from easy, as suspicion quickly turns to Adele. Getting the authorities to believe her is doubly difficult because she can't explain how she knows certain things. The ending is a dandy one with everything wrapped up nicely. Narrator Piper Goodeve is flawless in her pacing and inflection.