Jaime is a queer Latino teen with an enigmatic past who never expected to return to his hometown of Saint Juniper, Vermont. But the foster-care system has other ideas when it sends Jaime back there, only for him to become trapped in a haunted house in the middle of the woods. When Theo (a white, local teen) stumbles upon the dilapidated old house and discovers Jaime imprisoned inside, the two form an unlikely and somewhat messy bond while Theo tries to set Jaime free. Theo eventually brings Taylor, a Latina witch, into the fold, and the trio works against all odds to free Jaime and release the spirit trying to convince him to stay. First-person chapters reveal each teen's point of view as they work through personal problems in addition to confronting the sinister force at work in their town. The flow of time is sometimes jarring, but even so, Crespo's debut blends together magic and mystery, love and connection, and romance to create a creepily engaging gothic narrative.

Teens save themselves from a haunted house.Jaime Alvarez-Shephard, Theo Miller, and Taylor Rivera Bishop all live in small-town Vermont. Jaime is newly returned to picture-perfect Saint Juniper; he lived there as a child but ended up in foster care after his unstable family left 8 years ago. Privileged White boy Theo chafes under his overbearing father but finds solace volunteering at the library. Taylor, with a stern Boricua father and a recently dead White mother who was descended from local witches, lives above her family's occult shop in Wolf's Head, the slightly scrappier town next door. All feel hemmed in by Saint Juniper's Folly, a densely wooded region that's been the subject of fear and rumor for generations. The alternating three-person point of view follows Theo and Taylor as they discover that biracial White-passing Jaime, whose father was Mexican, is trapped by an invisible barrier inside the crumbling and definitely haunted Blackwood Estate, which may be connected to Taylor's mom's death. Part romance, part story of new friendship, part family history, this story never fully relaxes into itself, and the pace of the storytelling flip-flops between rushed and overly expository. Readers who enjoy watching a queer love story unfold amid peril will enjoy that aspect of this otherwise middling debut.Earnest but unmemorable. (Supernatural. 13-17)

Two teenagers team up to save a boy trapped in a haunted house in this eerie paranormal mystery, Crespo’s debut. After eight years away, a new foster home placement brings 17-year-old Jaime Alvarez-Shephard, who is Mexican American and transgender, back to his quaint hometown of Saint Juniper, Vt. When neighborhood gossip surrounding his past proves too much to bear, he escapes into the nearby woods, called the Folly, where he enters a solitary Victorian house—and is forbidden to leave by the resident ghost. That’s where he’s found days later by white-cued rising senior Theo Miller, who feels compelled to save Jaime despite his abrasive nature. Theo’s desperation leads him to a local occult shop, and Puerto Rican witch Taylor Rivera Bishop, 18, who is eager to carry on her recently deceased mother’s magical legacy, despite being prohibited from practicing magic by her grieving father. Friendship grows among the teens as they strive to free Jaime without being implicated for his disappearance. Centering themes of found family and identity, Crespo depicts Theo’s unfolding understanding of his sexuality with sensitivity and realism, and his strengthening romance with Jaime sparkles with anticipatory tension and affable banter. Ages 14–up. Agent: Mary C. Moore, Kimberley Cameron Literary. (May)

Gr 9 Up— Jamie has spent years bouncing between foster homes. When he is finally taken in by his mom's friend Michelle, the one caveat is that he has to move back to his hometown: Saint Juniper, VT. He's not happy about that, or about much of anything. When he feels called to the woods between Saint Juniper and the adjacent nearby town, he finds an old, abandoned house. After entering, he discovers that he is inexplicably trapped within the house and is being kept there by supernatural means. Jamie is found by Theo, a kind-hearted, somewhat shy, do-gooder who stumbles upon the house. Both boys are out of their depth when it comes to ghost busting, so Theo tries to find information in a local apothecary shop, where he meets Taylor, a young witch trained by her recently deceased mother. The trio form a tight bond hanging out each day and doing deep-dive research on the specter-ridden home. The attraction between Jamie and Theo deepens. This sweet, supernatural love story features a trio of likable protagonists with each chapter alternating among their perspectives. Theo, the most grounded and skeptical, often serves as readers' proxy into the story; his struggle as he begins to resolve his romantic feelings for the sarcastic Jamie also draws readers into the romantic subplot. Taylor, whose presence helps drive the story, is also interesting with particular attention paid to her strained relationship with her father, who does not want her to engage in witchcraft. VERDICT A recommended first purchase for teen collections looking to expand their supernatural fiction and LGBTQIA+ titles.— Ryan P. Donovan