Whisper the Dead

Gr 9 Up—In this alternate history fantasy, cousins Gretchen, Penelope, and Emma are still learning to control their newfound powers and understand what it means to be members of one of the oldest witching families, the Lovegroves, in 1814 London. Reluctant debutante Gretchen will have to harness her own abilities as a Whisperer who can hear the spells of dead witches if she wants to help stop dark witches from wreaking all manner of havoc in London and beyond. She will also have to contend with the frustratingly proper Tobias Lawless and other Keepers tasked with keeping the cousins under surveillance. Recaps and multiple viewpoints help summarize key events from the first book in this trilogy. The narrative focus shifting from Emma to Gretchen also means that this volume will be approachable and only slightly confusing to new readers who missed A Breath of Frost (Bloomsbury, 2013). Rollicking action and mystery come together with humor and charm to make this a fast-paced and engrossing story. A well-developed romance and a cliffhanger ending help guarantee that this book will have high appeal and leave readers eager for the final installment. A must-read for fans of "The Cahill Witch Chronicles" by Jessica Spotswood (Putnam) or the "Sorcery and Cecelia" series by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevemer (Harcourt).—Emma Carbone, Brooklyn Public Library