City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab - ESSENTIAL

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab, 285 pages.  Scholastic Press, 2018.  $18.  

Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG. 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – ESSENTIAL; HS – ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  

Cass almost died when she was run off the road on her bike and crashed through the ice of the river.  A ghost named Jacob helps to save her, but ever since that incident Cass can feel the pull from the other side of the veil and when she opens the veil she can relive ghost’s experiences that caused their death.  It just so happens that Cass’s parents write about haunted places and they have a new television program that they are going to Scotland to shoot.  When Cass gets to Scotland she learns more about why she feels the tug towards the veil and has a run in with an especially disturbed ghost.  

I couldn’t put this book down.  I loved Cass and the spooky ghost stories in Scotland.  I loved the minor characters and the way that the author described the world of spirits, making it believable.  There is not any gruesome violence but there are intense situations where people die, so I put the violence as PG, but this a good clean ghost story that is easy to recommend.  I loved it and I hope that there is more to come.  

C. Peterson