The Ghost of Us

Due to past trauma surrounding peer reactions to her queer identity, Cara Weaver, 18, can’t wait to escape Stossel, Wash. After receiving rejections from all the colleges she applied to, however, she’s anticipating another year at home, and believes her only ticket out of Stossel is finding success with her ghost-hunting YouTube channel, Caranormal Activity. So, when she accidentally stumbles upon the spirit of deceased former classmate Aiden Reyes, she endeavors to use his presence to prove that ghosts are real. But Aiden will only help Cara if she takes his sister Meredith to prom, an act that he hopes will draw Meredith out of her grief-induced depression. What begins as an obligation blossoms into real romance, leaving Cara in an impossible situation—the happier she makes Meredith, the more at peace Aiden feels, causing his spirit to retreat toward the afterlife and taking Cara’s dreams of escape with him. A key traumatic incident and examinations of grief are handled cursorily, and snarky, pop-culture-packed prose by Sutter (Darkhearts) at times feels preoccupied with the girls’ bodies, but character personalities are nevertheless intricately and distinctly rendered. The protagonists read as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary. (June)