Denis Ever After

Since his death at age seven, Denis has been living in Port Haven, where souls still remembered by the living go after they die. Denis’s twin, Matt, remembers Denis so vividly that Denis has continued to grow, unlike most of the Port Haven residents, who remain the age that they were upon their death and, once completely forgotten by the living, move on to Garden Hills. But Matt has just discovered the investigation surrounding Denis’s death, left purposefully unresolved by their father, who can’t seem to let Denis go. Matt becomes so obsessed with finding the killer that Denis must return to the land of the living (a painful but doable process) to help his family uncover the truth. Abbot (the Secrets of Droon series) blends a taut and twisted murder mystery with a profound reflection on grief and learning to move on. Denis comes to see the “thousand, thousand threads” that bind people and realizes that the powerful connections forged through love cannot be broken, even in death. Ages 8–12. Agent: Robert Guinsler, Sterling Lord Literistic. (July)