A truly excellent addition to middle grade horror, this ghost story tells the tale of a Black Autistic girl being hanged by the many shades occupying her Mississippi boarding school. 

As an autistic person myself, I thought the characterisation and representation of Eva’s inner world was truly flawless. It’s hard to navigate all the things in your head when you’re autistic, and Eva is the whip-smart, witty, frustrated, anxious heroine we all needed to read as a kid. She’s deeply relatable even in her extraordinary circumstances. The stakes for her getting along and doing well at the school feel SO HIGH, and it makes for some lovely tension and motivation for dealing with the ghosts. 

Plot-wise, I was immediately intrigued and desperate to know more about the ghosts of Blythe, where they came from, and which of them was truly a threat to Eva and her friends. I kept trying to guess how it would all end, and I love that aspect of a good mysterious ghost story. 

I was also really impressed with how rooted in place this felt. I love a good southern story, and this hit all the right notes—vernacular, descriptions, themes—in all the right ways. 

G. Haron Davis is officially an insta-read author for me, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.