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Published Sep 2021
384 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!
Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.
The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its...secrets. That's only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there's a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.
But "running from ghosts" is just a metaphor, right?
As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn't limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.
"Jackson...proves that her skills in suspense carry over to the horror genre...[White Smoke] is a masterful juxtaposition of searing social commentary and genuinely creepy haunts, as well as...an authentic portrayal of tensions within a blended family...Begs to be finished in one sitting, though maybe with the lights kept on." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Though Jackson masterfully weaves in references to everything from The Shining to Paranormal Activity, hers is a wholly original take on the haunted house genre...Jackson is one of the most innovative YA suspense writers in recent years, and her latest is no exception. Spellbinding and thought-provoking." - School Library Journal (starred review)
"Plot progression is scattered among a number of unresolved threads, and Mari's addiction-induced tunnel vision takes center stage to the detriment of other components, but Jackson delivers multilayered frights in a true horror tradition, peppered with instantly recognizable references to urban legends and internet horror culture." - Publishers Weekly
"The nuanced depiction of Mari's struggle with mental health is emotionally resonant; the story of a mostly Black city nearly wiped out by draconian drug laws and gentrification is authentic and timely; and the simmering tension and jump scares make the horror element satisfyingly chilling... Jackson ticks off the best tropes of horror here with enthusiastic glee, and Ms. Suga will have more than a few readers checking their basements before bedtime." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Thrilling, chilling, and utterly riveting. Tiffany D. Jackson crafts high-stakes tension, a deliciously creepy atmosphere, and characters you really, really hope make it to the end." - Karen McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying
"The creeps come on slowly, then start to build. When the cold shivers ran down my back, I wanted to scream—but I was too busy turning pages. I had to know: Just how frightening will it get?" - R.L. Stine, author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series
"Tiffany Jackson takes the classic haunted house story to the next level by infusing it with her trademark twists and turns and her brilliant and unflinching prose. White Smoke is a gripping, unsettling, and incisive novel by a YA powerhouse who knows her thrills—and her chills." - Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie and The Project
This information about White Smoke was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle are professional nomads who retired by age fifty to travel full-time in an Airstream travel trailer with Ringo, their Standard Poodle. They have explored every state but Alaska and consider Mexico's Baja California Peninsula the closest thing to home.
Name Pronunciation
Tiffany D Jackson: BOW-er-shmitt
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