The Truth Against the World

Gr 6 Up—Wen, a California teen, is going through a difficult time. Her Welsh great-grandmother is terminally ill, and Wen feels this approaching loss deeply. Her fears seem to be manifesting into strange dreams. Wen is an active blogger, and she posts descriptions of her dreams in an effort to process them. An ocean away, Gareth Lewis visits his great-grandfather in Wales. Gareth is haunted by a disturbing event that occurs at the grave of a girl named Olwen Nia Evans. Gareth discovers Wen's blog when researching the ghostly girl haunting him. The two connect, and vow to solve the mystery of little Olwen Nia Evans and put her soul to rest. There are opportunities for information literacy lessons in this book, including a moment when Gareth discusses limiting his search and consulting a reliable source. The description of Wales, and integration of Welsh language and proverbs are fascinating and well researched. The overall pace of the book is a little slow but would grip those interested in paranormal mysteries.—Tiffany Davis, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY