Radiance

Riley, who appeared in ghost form to her older sister, Ever, in Noël's bestselling Evermore, takes center stage in this middle-grade spinoff, first in a planned series. Having recently crossed over into the afterworld, Riley has reunited with her parents, who were killed in the same accident, but is having trouble adjusting. "I'd do anything to go back home," she admits. When she gets assigned to be a Soul Catcher, persuading dead people to "cross the bridge and move on," she is thrilled to return to Earth in spirit form, even if it means traveling with Bodhi, a "dorky" teenage guide. As she and Bodhi help the deceased cross over (at one point, they are sucked into the grieving soul of a mother wrongly executed for her children's murders), the assignments help her, too. If Riley is bratty—a fact she realizes after viewing video recaps of her brief life ("Are these like—edited—or maybe even, um, you know, Photoshopped, or something?")—her wit, attitude, and maturation should have readers gladly following her into the second installment. Ages 9–12. (Sept.)