The Forgotten Girl
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4.7 • 18 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
"This ghost story gave me chill after chill. It will haunt you." -- R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps"Do you know what it feels like to be forgotten?"On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris carefully makes a perfect snow angel -- only to find the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore, right beneath her.Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...Obsessed with figuring out what's going on, Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life -- and in death. As Iris and Daniel learn more about their town's past, they become determined to restore Avery's grave and finally have proper respect paid to Avery and the others buried there.But they have awakened a jealous and demanding ghost, one that's not satisfied with their plans for getting recognition. One that is searching for a best friend forever -- no matter what the cost.The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery."A harrowing yet empowering tale reminding us that the past is connected to the present, that every place and every person has a story, and that those stories deserve to be told." -- Renée Watson, New York Times bestselling author of Piecing Me Together
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Both historically and culturally relevant, Brown's thoughtful ghost story explores the legacy of racism through segregation. In North Carolina, Iris and her best friend Daniel, both African-American, sneak out one night to play in just-fallen snow, only to stumble upon the abandoned grave of Avery Moore, who died in 1956 at their current age: 11. After repeatedly finding her bedroom window open, Iris sees "the shimmering, gray shadow of a girl emerging from her window." When Iris and Daniel decide to conduct their social studies project on abandoned graves, they find that Avery's is part of an entire segregated black cemetery that has faded from history. Iris struggles with erasure at school and getting less attention than her sibling at home, ideas that intertwine as Avery's ghost emerges and seeks recognition. Through Daniel's close-knit family his single mother and superstitious grandmother, both coping with his father's death the novel also explores the multifaceted nature of grief alongside close childhood friendships and the historical significance of racism. Although secondary characters can feel a bit one-dimensional, the story is robust enough to balance it out, making this a solid debut in which the horrors are both historical and spectral. Ages 8 12.)
Customer Reviews
Such a interesting and unique story!
I loved it so much when I was younger, and now when I reread it, I am still mesmerized by the characters and the plot! 10/10