Young Adult Book Reviews

Sixteen-year-old Lacy Brink is shocked and disheartened to find herself buried in Westminster Cemetary with no memory of how she died. Things quickly get worse when she meets Mrs. Steele, who is set on enforcing all the archaic graveside rules from many years ago. These rules include no cursing, no staying out past sunrise, and performing the job assigned to you without complaint. After a rocky start, Lacy learns that if you break the rules you get a strike and once you have three strikes you are no longer allowed to get out of your graves at night, which sounds terrible. Everyone is very eager to meet Lacy because there haven’t been any new residents in many years. Sam, for example, was buried a hundred years earlier and immediately feels a connection with Lacy, but he doesn’t know if she feels the same. Edgar Allan Poe is buried in this cemetary as well, but apparently he earned his strikes pretty quickly and is no longer allowed out of his grave. Lacy’s job is the entertainment director and she announces she would like to have an open mic night. This is a new concept to the ghosts, but many are eager for something new to happen. In order for it to be successful, Lacy feels she needs to get Mrs. Steele out of the picture so everyone will feel comfortable performing. Also, it would give her a chance to open up the event to all people, even those who have earned 3 strikes. To add to her stress, Lacy’s sister has begun coming to the cemetary to try and deal with her guilt over Lacy’s death. How did Lacy die and will she be able to survive in this bizarre cemetary with its very strict rules? Will the other ghosts perform at the open mic night? Even after all this time, what have the ghosts not shared with each other about how they lived?

This unique story is set in the cemetary where Edgar Allan Poe is buried and so there are some fun interactions with him, his wife, and his mother. It becomes obvious that many of the people in this cemetary have no concept of what modern times are like and are very intrigued by this new resident. It is written using stage directions, which definitely sets the scene for this story, but may be difficult for some reluctant readers. Once the rules of the cemetary are established, the story really takes off as Lacy struggles to find her way in a place that hasn’t changed much in decades. Fans of light fantasy will enjoy this clever tale.