by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Readers' rating:
Publishes
Apr 11, 2023
320 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
NSK Neustadt Laureate and New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith delivers a thrilling cross-genre follow-up to the acclaimed Hearts Unbroken.
Deftly leading readers to the literary crossroads of contemporary realism and haunting mystery, Cynthia Leitich Smith revisits the world of her American Indian Youth Literature Award winner Hearts Unbroken. Halloween is near, and Hughie Wolfe is volunteering at a new rural attraction: Harvest House. He's excited to take part in the fun, spooky show—until he learns that an actor playing the vengeful spirit of an "Indian maiden," a ghost inspired by local legend, will headline. Folklore aside, unusual things have been happening at night at the crossroads near Harvest House. A creepy man is stalking teenage girls and young women, particularly Indigenous women; dogs are fretful and on edge; and wild animals are behaving strangely. While Hughie weighs how and when to speak up about the bigoted legend, he and his friends begin to investigate the crossroads and whether it might be haunted after all. As Moon rises on All Hallow's Eve, will they be able to protect themselves and their community?
Gripping and evocative, Harvest House showcases a versatile storyteller at her spooky, unsettling best.
"Using short, propulsive chapters, Smith, a member of the Muscogee Nation, intertwines thoughtful conversation surrounding the racism faced by Indigenous teenagers with a convincing ghost story to craft a spine-tingling, edge-of-the-seat chiller." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Part coming-of-age tale, part social justice story, and part paranormal thriller.... Smith knows what appeals to teens and what makes them tick, and so includes plenty of current teen slang and occasional curse words to keep this story relevant and engaging for them. This is one heckuva roller coaster ride that ratchets up the tension the closer the story comes to Halloween. - School Library Connection (starred review)
"An atmospheric novel compellingly interweaving chills and contemporary themes." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about Harvest House 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.
Cynthia Leitich Smith is the New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Hearts Unbroken, the Tantalize series, and the Feral trilogy. An NSK Neustadt Laureate and the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books, she was named the inaugural Katherine Paterson Chair on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. A citizen of the Muscogee Nation, Cynthia Leitich Smith lives in Austin, Texas.
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