The Haunting (The Secret of Glendunny #1)

In this ghostly tale involving interdependent animal species residing around notoriously haunted pond Glendunny, Lasky (Faceless) focuses on a colony of beavers that settled in Scotland, having fled England to avoid the “two-legs,” or humans, who prize them for their pelts. When beaver kit Dunwattle is startled awake by a cued-white two-leg’s ghost, he flees into uncharted waters all the way to England, where he’s seen and photographed by a human, breaking a rule known as vysculf that is punishable by expulsion or death. Dunwattle consults his beaver best friend, Locksley, and trusted swan Elsinore, a royal counselor, who swear to keep his secret. Complicating things are two beavers—one disgruntled and power-hungry, another obsessed with the British monarchy—a bloodthirsty lynx, and two desperate ghosts of humans who died in a massacre a millennium ago and wish to reach heaven. The taut third-person narrative alternates between pond residents, culminating in a gruesome, puzzlingly abrupt ending, but themes of belonging and friendship are well conveyed throughout, as are the complexities of this industrious world of creatures. Ages 8–12. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Book Group. (Mar.)