When Miranda Barnes first sees the sleepy town of St. Yvette, Louisiana, with its moss-draped trees, above-ground cemeteries, and her grandfather’s creepy historic home, she realizes that life as she knew it is officially over. Almost immediately, there seems to be something cloying at her. Something lonely and sad and . . . very pressing. Even at school and in the group project she’s been thrown into, she can’t escape it. Whispers when she’s alone, shadows when no one is there to make them, and a distant pleading voice that wakes her from sleep. The other members in Miranda’s group project, especially handsome Etienne, can see that Miranda is in distress. She is beginning to understand that, like her grandfather before her, she has a special gift of communicating with spirits who still walk the town of St. Yvette. And no matter where she turns, Miranda feels bound by their whispered pleas for help . . . unless she can somehow find a way to bring them peace. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Gr 9 Up-A hurricane forces Miranda Barnes and her mother to relocate from Florida to the small bayou town of St. Yvette, LA, where they are taken in by Miranda's aunt and the grandfather the teen has never met. Miranda wants nothing more than to be left alone, but she is thrown immediately into a school project with cocky jock Parker, his cheerleader girlfriend Ashley, Goth girl Roo, cute Gage, and mysterious Etienne. Even worse, her nights are disturbed by unearthly screams. It turns out that Miranda has inherited Grandpa's talents as a medium, and his sudden death forces her to continue his work. She attempts to unravel the tragedy of a Civil War-era love story while helping her classmates put together a "haunted history" tour of the town, making a few tentative sparks with Etienne along the way. While the setup is promising, Cusick's supernatural romance doesn't generate much mystery or passion. The playful banter and innuendo among the teens is entertaining (if occasionally misplaced), but the rapidity with which most of Miranda's new friends accept her psychic abilities is unconvincing. Those who like their love stories spiced with the paranormal should stick with Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series (Little, Brown).-Christi Voth Esterle, Parker Library, CO Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

After their home is destroyed in a fierce hurricane, Miranda and her mother return to St. Yvette, the small Louisiana town where Mom grew up and her aunt and grandfather still live. Soon after Miranda arrives, though, her grandfather dies, and she discovers that she has inherited his ability to hear the voices of the dead. Miranda's newfound friends beautiful Ashley and her goth sister; Parker, Ashley's boyfriend; and gorgeous Etienne, her grandfather's young friend and handyman are all suspiciously nice to Miranda and include her in everything, engaging in a repartee that belongs to longtime friends. Struggling to accept her new gift and her new friends, Miranda wonders who she can trust. The parallels with Hurricane Katrina are obvious, even though here the setting is an urban Florida community that is ravished, and the escape route is to a sleepy, small town in Louisiana. Add cries in the night, old historic homes with secrets to hide, and a supernatural love story, and you have a surefire reader favorite.--Bradburn, Frances Copyright 2008 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.