Smy, Pam Thornhill,
544 pages. Roaring Brook Press, 2017. $20. Content: Language: PG (2 swears);
Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.
Mary is teen living in a group home (Thornhill) in the 80’s. She is bullied to the extreme by another girl
who lives in the home and the caretakers are unaware of the torment Mary endures. Ella is a girl from present day whose
apartment overlooks the abandoned Thornhill building. As Ella is often left home alone, she starts to
explore the grounds and home of Thornhill, where she finds abandoned dolls and
starts to uncover what happened to Mary from years before. The girls stories wind closer together and
the mystery is uncovered.
Mary’s story
is told through journal entries and Ella’s story is told through black and
white pictures. Their stories go back
and forth to build the story line. The
illustrations are not fantastic (compared to say Brian Selznick), but it’s an interesting way to tell the
story. I feel like this story is creepy
and upsetting. Mary is tortured by the
girl in her group home, and her story feels helpless and depressing. Ella innocently gets caught up in the mystery
of Mary with dastardly results. The
mature content is PG because it refers to the caretakers sleeping
together. The violence is PG-13 because
of the amount of and type of bullying, torture and suicide. This is an interesting but dark and sad ghost
story.
MS, HS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
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