All Those Broken Angels

June 30, 2014
“The random shrieks, the constant burning, the occasional fainting. Just another day in the life of me.” Such has been the lot of 16-year-old Richard Anderson in the 10 years since his friend Melanie disappeared while they were playing hide-and-seek. Melanie was eventually declared dead, her parents moved away, and a ghost, whom Richard believes to be Melanie, became his only friend. At Savannah Arts Academy, Richard has been ostracized for his distant behavior and morbid artwork. When a new student arrives, claiming to be his long-lost friend, the ghost, an unpredictable, shadowlike presence, becomes angry and envious, even taking control of Richard’s body to insist that “I am Melanie.” Meanwhile, local girls are beginning to disappear, causing Richard to question the ghost’s identity and unfinished business. Richard’s pained first-person narration is occasionally interrupted by dispatches from an unnamed captive as Salomon (Henry Franks) creates the sensation of slipping between the worlds of the living and the dead. A complex, intense mystery that surprises and chills. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

June 15, 2014
When his childhood friend Melanie returns after being presumed dead for over a decade, Richard must uncover the truth behind a ghostly presence that haunts his every move.This "shadow" threatens to turn Richard inside out. In an effort to exorcise himself, Richard and the newly returned Melanie follow the specter's call and discover a mass grave with 14 skulls buried in the woods. The couple vow to find the spirit's killer and bring her some peace. Salomon offers a clever premise here. Unfortunately, it is buried deep beneath clumsy visual poetry and angst-ridden prose. Richard and Melanie are suitably haunted by their traumatic past, but this mood overwhelms the novel and makes it difficult to cut through and really care about either of them. The clues doled out like breadcrumbs leading the pair toward the truth are far more interesting than the book's climax, a finale that is confusingly staged and filled with awkward, last-minute exposition. In the end, the mystery isn't really solved. Instead, the guilty parties just happen to cross paths with the protagonists and decide to show their true colors for no real reason.The problem with this book isn't the ideas, it's the execution. (Suspense. 12-16)

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July 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-An eclectic mix of paranormal and horror/suspense. Readers meet Richard Anderson, age six, when he loses his best friend while playing hide-and-seek. Melanie is declared dead even though her body is not found. So when Richard encounters a presence that feels like Melanie, he accepts it as her. Fast forward 10 years into the future, and a new girl starts at Richard's high school. It's Melanie, not dead, but hiding from her abusive father and back in town now that her mother has died. Richard is shattered and confused. If Melanie never died, then who is this presence that has been his sole companion for 10 years? And why are little girls that resemble Melanie suddenly disappearing? The central premise is a solid one and the plot is intriguingly woven. However, there are some flaws. The police and press presence seems included solely for dramatic effect and the encounters don't ring completely true as a result. Readers may find the twist ending less surprising and more confusing. Other vengeful ghost tales, such as Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood (TOR, 2011), are a better choice.-Saleena L. Davidson, South Brunswick Public Library, Monmouth Junction, NJ

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* It has been 10 years since Richard's best friend, Melanie, vanished during their game of hide-and-seek, but over the subsequent decade, he has been comforted by the presence of her ghost: a silent, willful shadow figure, the single strong constant in his otherwise cowering life. So it is a great shock when Melanie returns from hiding to live again with her formerly abusive but now reformed father. Who, then, is the ghost? One thing for certain is that the ghost is viciously jealous about real-life Melanie's developing relationship with Richard, and the reason has something to do with a new spate of disappearing girls. Salomon's sophomore work is the ideal companion piece to his undercelebrated debut, Henry Franks (2012). It's another slow-motion car crash of a story characterized by scant but thrilling detail and tense, pulsing scenes that often feel more like threatening gestures. This disorientation forces the reader to slow down or risk missing the scattered but vital clues, most of which are more horrifying for the numb lens through which Richard views them. An overly rationalized climax undercuts this accomplishment a bit, but that doesn't erase the effect of the book's dreadful, inching progress; startling, evolving relationships; and pervading sense of shuddery doom.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)