The Dark Between

Gr 8 Up—When Kate Poole loses her job assisting a medium in defrauding grieving Spiritualist believers out of their money at the turn of the 20th century, the orphaned British teen has nowhere to turn. She seeks out lodging at Summerfield College, run by Mr. Thompson, who used to be good friends with the father who could not openly acknowledge her birth. Kate meets Thompson's niece, Elsie, who is suffering a strange condition that has her hooked on the same drug that killed Kate's mother, and Asher Beale, a young man estranged from his American father. The teens have each come to the college to escape the past, but they find their futures entwined as they investigate the death of Kate's friend, Billy. Reality and seemingly impossible phenomena begin to blend as Elsie discovers that without the dampening effects of her medication, she is able to communicate with the dead. Strange visions, photographic clues, and research into the local group of fringe scientists lead the teens to discover a real murderer preying on the dregs of society for his own nefarious purposes. Telepathy, communication with the dead, and electroshock therapy are all explored by the scientists and scholars in Kate Poole's town. The blending of the empirical and the ethereal creates a vivid and intriguing backdrop for this murder mystery. The teens are fully developed characters with well-defined motives for their actions, and the story will evoke empathy from readers.—Jessica Miller, West Springfield Public Library, MA