Testimonials
Don’t be fooled by that cute cartoon cover: this is a true-blue ghost story. Richly drawn and occasionally melancholy, this is a ghost story with a timeless feel, featuring a city gone to seed, a decaying theater, and a family falling apart.
It's a haunting and ethereal tale in the vein of Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord. Nods to Edgar Allan Poe make it atmospheric, and Olive herself, a lonely heroine with ghosts in her past, give it soul.
★ Booklist, Olive and the Backstage Ghost starred review
The beautifully creepy plot deftly weaves together old-time–y fears with fresh outlooks through richly realized characters who feel immediate and modern despite the 1952 setting. Especially well done is the approach to gender, as Chance, Penny, and Constance all struggle with different realities of embodiment and expression without resorting to cheap sentiment or heavy-handedness.
An excellent melding of horror and heart, this complex story will appeal to a wide range of readers.
★ Kirkus, Spell & Spindle starred review
Each chapter overlaps just a bit, with clues and epiphanies that move the action forward slowly at first, later building to a rapid, heart-stopping crescendo. Aided by Addie's TikTok videos, an international community of viewers, and a strategy generated by Addie, max, and Darwin, the colony is saved—at least for now. despite being of different species, the protagonists are devoted to each other, and their cause will capture readers' hearts.
Complex, timely, and deeply moving.