Review: Schwab, V. (2018). City of ghosts.

LSSL 5385: YALSA Quick Picks

Schwab, V. (2018). City of ghosts. New York, NY: Scholastic.

City of Ghosts is a 2019 YALSA “Quick Picks” and a TLA Texas Lone Star recommended book. The novel is the first installment in a series about twelve year-old Cass, who has been bothered day and night by pesky hauntings ever since she drowned and was barely resuscitated on her eleventh birthday the year before. She is the daughter of well-known parents, “The Inspecters,” spectre-hunters and published authors of several volumes that are “like history books, but with ghost stories mixed in.” Ironically, her dad doesn’t actually believe in the supernatural, and certainly not that his daughter’s best friend, Jacob, is a ghost haunting their own home.

Cass looks forward to her annual summer retreat at the beach, where she is less plagued by ghostly interruptions, but instead finds herself whisked overseas when her parents begin filming their own television series; first stop: Edinburgh, Scotland, or the titular “City of Ghosts,” one of the world’s “most haunted cities” they will be visiting. Along with Jacob and the family’s cat, Grim, Cass does indeed discover the city to be teeming with restless, malevolent spirits, and finds that she is even involuntarily pulled to the other side of “the Veil” that separates them from the land of the living. There she also meets another girl, Lara, who may share her strange abilities, and explores the idea that she might actually have a purpose in using them.

This novel is as entertaining as it is an easy read. With a humorous, deceased best friend who makes quips like, “well, that’s not ominous,” Cass solves a centuries-old mystery while fighting to not die (again), keep her main secret from her parents, and figure out her role in the struggle, all against the backdrop of a very old and fascinating city. Schwab was obviously inspired to choose Scotland as a setting because of her own visits there, and it fits the mystical tone of the narrative perfectly. The protagonist will be relatable to middle graders of all walks, and this seems like a natural choice to be on a list for possibly reluctant readers.

The creepier aspects of this novel are not overdone, though younger readers may find the idea of soul-robbed children being enslaved by an evil ghost a bit troubling. Jacob’s ongoing mystery--how he died, and why he won’t discuss it--continues. The emphasis on the importance of friendship in maintaining one’s balance is a major theme, underscored by the very literal aspect of Jacob having pulled Cass back from death, and repeatedly being her anchor on the living side of the Veil. It’s fairly clear early on that everything will come out alright in the end, and Cassidy “Cass” Blake, Jacob, Grim, and Mom and Dad are off to their next adventure in the second installment, Tunnel of Bones (September 3, 2019).