Abstract
Reviewed by: Storm by Nicola Skinner Aaren Tucker Skinner , Nicola Storm . HarperCollins , 2022 [ 384 p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780063071681 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780063071704 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 5-8 Twelve-year-old Frankie Ripley was born in a storm and died in a natural disaster—along with everyone else in her small town. Now a ghost, Frankie wakes up over a hundred years in the future to find her home has become a tourist attraction. Trapped there, unseen by all the visitors, and with a slowly degrading memory, Frankie is facing a lonely, boring afterlife until she realizes she can affect the living world by wreaking havoc as a poltergeist. Her destructive antics eventually lead her to Scanlon, who can see her and whom she befriends, but she unfortunately also attracts the attention of his ghost hunter father, who wants Frankie to be the star attraction of his new haunted house. Skinner's poignant story of Frankie's ordinary and heartbreaking afterlife tackles grand themes of love, forgiveness, friendship, and even the meaning of life. As Frankie begins to lose herself in anger and monotony, it is her friendship with the unhappy Scanlon (whose thoughts eventually turn suicidal) that ultimately reminds her of the profound and simple joys of her life. The heavy subject matter is tempered by a light tone, carefully balancing humor and [End Page 202] tragedy, and the topic of suicide is approached gently and without judgment. The narrative builds steadily to a powerful climax, and an insightful conclusion makes this a perfect book for fans of Neil Gaiman's Coraline and The Graveyard Book . Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Published Version
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