(2) 4-6 Immy and her parents have moved from Australia to a quaint English village. Despite the real estate agent's misgivings, the family chooses Lavender Cottage as their new home--a charming little house with a huge, leafless, evil-looking mulberry tree in the garden. It turns out the entire village is superstitious about the tree, and for good reason: two girls who lived in Lavender Cottage went missing on the eve of their eleventh birthdays, and everyone believes that the mulberry tree snatched them. As her own eleventh birthday approaches, Immy becomes determined to solve the mystery of the girls' disappearance. At the same time, she struggles to cope with her dad's severe depression and to make friends in a village that distrusts outsiders. In the end, a compassionate act of Immy's toward the tree reverses, indeed erases, the curse. The novel's premise is spooky, and the descriptions of the tree and the blighted village are vivid. Although the solution to the mulberry-tree mystery is a bit simplistic, there's more than enough conflict to be found in Immy and her family's relationship with the villagers and the mental health struggles her father faces.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) 4-6 In WWII London, ghost Flossie Birdwhistle's job is to watch over the spirits interred at Highgate Cemetery. When Flossie discovers the specter of a German officer spying on English forces, she must balance the care of her spirits with the imperative task of stopping the soldier. Rushby writes with sweetness and charm, and Flossie's interactions with both the living and the dead are imbued with a warm optimism. Bib.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(4) YA Narrator Jo is only sixteen, but she's one of the best paparazzi in town. She's sent on assignment to cover music superstar Ned Hartnett and find out why he's checked in to an exclusive rehab retreat. Here, she has a tepid romance and offers a lackluster peek into celebrity life. When she discovers that Ned isn't who he seems, a load of schemes, lies, and psychological issues are revealed.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor