Finch House

Having lived most of her 11 years with her beloved grandfather, Poppop, Michaela “Micah” Robinson resists her family’s upcoming move to a home an hour away. Frustrated with packing, she goes for a bike ride and discovers that Finch House, a long-abandoned Victorian that Poppop declared off-limits, has been renovated and bought by a new family, including a boy named Theo. When Poppop arrives, he looks strangely terrified and tersely demands that they leave, frustrating Micah with his unusual lack of candor. Later, she learns that Finch House was the last place Poppop saw his sister, who went missing when she was not much older than Micah. After Poppop vanishes the next day, Micah and Theo search to no avail, and a hot chocolate break inside Finch House soon turns terrifying. Micah hears her grandfather’s voice, then becomes trapped in the house—an ever-shifting realm with ties to the past. Deftly utilizing a haunted house framework to explore the weight of intergenerational trauma, debut author Burch’s chilling tale recalls the sinister atmospherics of Coraline, while its thought-provoking ending enhances spare, poetic storytelling. Micah and her grandfather are Black; Theo cues as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Patrice Caldwell, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Sept.)