So I was wandering about Oblong Books and Music with three gift cards and saw this book. The physical book is beautiful. The cover is an elegant green with texture and delicate ivy twining about. Then you open the book to beautiful paper, delicate green ivy on every few pages and beautiful illustrations of signs and headstones about once per chapter. I know they say to never judge a book by its cover, but this one was too pretty to put down.

The story itself begins with a young family with a daughter, Courtney, who move to Murmur, MA. They move into an ancient and imposing house adjacent to the cemetery and immediately notice the encroaching ivy all about the house and the cemetery. The story quickly evolves into a mildly creepy ghost story about long deceased parents trying to protect their long deceased daughter.

While this story is fairly predictable, it has the feel of a more mature book while still being innocent and readable enough for a middle school student. I think a more precocious student would be quickly bored with the book, but it would be wonderful for a high-skilled 4th grader to a relatively low-skilled, innocent 8th grader. The ghost story is not terribly scary or complicated, but it has a nice flow to it, and the characters are quite endearing. Don't be afraid to give this book to a student who needs a little mystery to keep them reading!