School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Evan, 17, doesn't think much of his creaky, fixer-upper new home. His mom seems to be spending more time on it than she does at work or with his five-year-old sister. In addition to the three of them, the rickety house is inhabited by the ghost of Cora, a teen who lived there nearly 100 years earlier, and whose effervescent, whispery poetry makes up much of the novel's text. Most of her thoughts are about Evan, how beautiful he is and how much he reminds her of a past lover. Her words are hauntingly erotic as she admires him from a distance, in his bedroom, in the bathroom while he showers. He is intrigued by her story, especially when he examines a box of her family's files and photographs found hidden in the walls of the house. She begins to appear in his dreams, causing him to question whether he truly loves his girlfriend, Carrie, with whom he's had an intimate relationship for over a year. Jenkins's novel is subtly eerie-a razor-sharp plot enfolded in a bed of feathery down, and a coming-of-age story about two teenagers-one dead, one alive-who learn that the lines between love and sex are much more blurred than they could have ever imagined.-Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

ALA Booklist (Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

When 17-year-old Evan moves into the Victorian house his mother has remodeled, he gradually realizes that someone else still inhabits his room. He dismisses the thought, yet he continues to be haunted by graphic dreams of a young woman with fine, pale hair who matches the picture he finds in a box hidden in his room. As days and weeks pass, his nightly fantasy life begins to take a toll on his real-life relationship with Carrie, his girlfriend of two years. Both accessible and substantive, this book will be an easy sell to teens. Chapters alternate between narrative (Evan's life, feelings, and relationships) and free verse depicting the ghostly girl's thoughts about Evan, to whom she has transferred her love and passion. Readers will identify with Evan's fascination, the ghost's longing, and Carrie's frustration with the gradual demise of her relationship with Evan. There's also the subtle message about the possible differences between men's and women's perceptions of a relationship once it becomes sexual, and the hurt that can result from these often opposite perspectives.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

After a rocky divorce, 17-year-old Evan's mother buys a Victorian fixer-upper where she can write and, with Evan and his young sister Libby, make a home. Along with the stained glass window and gingerbread outfittings, comes the spirit of a girl who died in the house a century before. The ghost sees in Evan a reminder of her own lover (a workman's discovery of a box of papers reveals the identities of the two 19th-century lovers). Evan begins to feel ill at ease, and he dreams of sex with a pale-haired girl. His brunette girlfriend, Carrie, senses his emotional withdrawal and becomes more demanding. The story unwinds in two voices, that of the ghost, and the other the third-person account from Evan's perspective. The dead girl's voice starts out as lyrical, conveying her emotions and longing in poems almost like Haiku in their brevity and emotional trenchancy ("quiet/ night nestles into corners/ tall clock in the downstairs hall/ ticks the seconds/ I roam"). Later, the ghost, too, becomes demanding; and past and present converge to bring about a kind of healing for both the ghost and Evan. The third-person narrative works as an excellent foil, portraying Evan's kind nature with an even tone as opposed to the growing urgency of the dead girl's obsession. This is an evocative, often sexy book, demonstrating Jenkins's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Breaking Boxes) skill and imagination. Ages 14-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Jan.)

Kirkus Reviews

Two interwoven stories, one in poetry, one in prose, and two teens, one a modern boy, the other a ghost, interact in this deftly crafted outing. Evan has moved into an old Victorian home with his mother and sister, and is happy in his relationship with his girlfriend Carrie. Soon, though, he begins having vivid sexual dreams about Cora. Cora, unaware of her own death, confuses Evan with the boy she loved at the end of her life. As Evan loses control over his relationship with Carrie, the reader learns the circumstances of Cora's death and watches as history appears to be repeating itself. Jenkins plants clues and builds suspense while exploring many of the difficulties involved in adolescent sexual relationships. The result is intriguing and certainly haunting. A winner. (Fiction. YA)

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

When Evan moves into a house where, long ago, a young woman died mysteriously, her ghost gradually warms to awareness, and history begins to repeat itself. Alternating perspectives build suspense, with the two narrators interacting only on the subtlest of levels, and the spare poetic interludes that depict the unnamed ghost's awakening consciousness are deeply evocative and exquisitely ethereal.

Voice of Youth Advocates

A seventeen-year-old boy moves into a dilapidated, historic house with his mother, starting over after a marital break up. Evan is a typical, often sullen teen with a girlfriend and undisguised disdain for his family and the house. They are all unaware that they have moved into a home with a curious spirit. Cora, a young lady who died in the home more than one hundred years ago, expresses her impressions of the new activity within the house intermittently through the novel's pages that set her words in a poetic form similar to that of e. e. cummings. She is confused about who these people are and why she is there. Her initial contacts are through Evan's dreams, most of them sexual. She grows obsessive about him when she realizes that he is not her boyfriend. A discovered box of news clippings, photos, and old letters sheds some light on Cora's identity and fate. As time goes by, she becomes more daring and angry that Evan has a real-life girlfriend. The tale draws to a climax as Cora attempts to repeat her tragic history. The book is not spooky, and the supernatural element is presented more in a romantic vein. The characters are well developed and are given realistic dialogue. The book can be finished in one sitting and might be suitable for older reluctant readers. Others should appreciate the artistry of the spirit's poetic musings, an echo from a more literate time revealed through her words. All in all, an attention-getting premise is presented with skillful writing.-Kevin Beach.