White Smoke

White Smoke

YA chiller
Readers, you are in for a treat! Tiffany D. Jackson has taken
her "first official venture into horror." The characters in White
Smoke experience plenty of close encounters of the malevolent spectral
kind. But, like the characters in her other narratives, they also
have to deal with systemic racism. In her acknowledgements, quoting
from a Twilight Zone episode, Jackson says:
"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and
explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts,
attitudes, prejudices to be found only in the minds of men. For the
record, prejudices can kill, and a suspicion can destroy, and a
thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of
its own--for the children and the children yet unborn..."
Marigold and her blended family (mom, brother, stepdad,
stepsister) are making a fresh start. A mantra (Change is good.
Change is necessary. Change is needed) runs through the book. Her
mom has won an art residency that includes free use of a restored
historic house for the length of the residency. It's part of a
foundation's efforts to build up the local community.
Marigold is not quite sold on the idea. Their renovated house
is the only inhabited one on the street. The rest are falling down,
some severely smoke damaged. Her own restored home boasts
inexplicable noises, lights and doors that operate without human help,
and vile odors eminating from a basement they're supposed to stay out
of. Stepsister Piper, at the age of ten, begins chumming around with
an invisible friend who wants Marigold gone. And the danger may not
be limited to the house. The foundation may not be being transparent
about their true intentions.
Marigold tries to share her misgivings. But she's got a
credibility problem. Poor choices she's made in the past are the
reason the family needs a fresh start half way across the country.
How can she convince her parents there's evil afoot when they're ready
to administer a urine test at the least bit of trouble?
It you like your chillers to come with a side of anti racism
White Smoke is a purrrfect choice.
On a purrrsonal note, l owe all my readers an apology for going a week
without new content. I just had so many homework projects due too
soon. Other than work, commuting, school, cooking, and sleep, it was
all homework. Grad school can be like that. Thursday I'll be doing a
ten minute presentation with visuals. I've gotta really prepare for
that. (Jules)
One of the things I like best about being a cat is no homework.
(Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to my friend, Caitlin, for giving me
lots of help with the computer aspects (my Achilles heel) of all that
homework. When (I've just stopped saying if) I pass the class Caitlin
deserves a lot of credit.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



Sent from my iPod