The In-Between

The In-Between

Juvenile thriller
I know there is still a month until Halloween. Some would say
it's too early to start reviewing scary books. My super talented
daughter, Amber, however, would say it's never too early. I'm gonna
go with her on this.
And there's no better book to start with than Rebecca K. S.
Ansari's The In-Between. Cooper, Ansari's protagonist is not in a
good place. His father had taken off a few years ago and now has a
life that revolves around a new wife and children.
"Just you wait, Cooper thought grimly to his unborn half-
sibling. Someday he'll ditch you too..."
Cooper's mother has had to take on a second job to take care of
expenses. His little sister, Jess, has been diagnosed with diabetes.
The family's life for the most part revolves around her routines and
crises. He has pretty much dropped out of his friends' lives...
...And then there's this strange girl who lives in the house
behind his, a house that was renovated in an impossibly short time (a
summer visit to his grandparents) from a falling apart refuge for the
homeless to a posh residence). For three months she's silently
watched him from a tree swing, always wearing a school uniform with an
unusual insignia.
One day Cooper discovers that Jess has been reading about a
train crash that happened in 1928. One body was not identified, that
of a boy with the same insignia. Researching it, Cooper and Jess
can't find it on the uniforms of any local private schools. But it
leads them stories of tragedies in which one deceased child wearing a
garment has never been identified.
So what can their new neighbor have to do with tragedies that
happened decades before she was born. Why is it that Cooper and Jess'
mom can't see her? How can the house transform in the blink of an eye
from its new incarnation to its old one and back again?
More crucially, does seeing the girl mean that Cooper and his
loved ones are about to be engulfed in tragedy? Is there any way to
keep that from happening?
Well there is a way to find out.
On a purrrsonal note, if you want to deck yourself or your home out
for Halloween look no further than Amber's crafts blog:
Https//:amberscraftaweek.blogspot.com
It has all you need to rock the special day whether hosting, partying,
or staying home solo to hand out the candy. (That is if partying or
handing out candy is even a thing six weeks from now. We are living
through the biggest real life terror in a century with no clue when or
even if it will stop.) Amber's latest post has the most awesome
seasonal earrings. If you're at all into crafting and Halloween check
it out. (Jules)
Well at least it's stopped raining. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Amber along with congratulations on
her blog's tenth anniversary!!! (We started our respective blogs the
summer of '11.) My amazing daughter is putting the final touches on a
scary novel she plans to get published. Now that's a book we can't
wait to review. Of course we might be biased. Understandably so.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway




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