Cry

Gr 10 Up–In this genre-blending supernatural mystery, 16-year-old Grace’s life upends when she is struck by lightning and is revived via CPR by her crush Blake. Upon waking, Grace discovers that she can see and communicate with ghosts. Her newfound ability brings her in contact with a teen ghost named Mohammad Ahmadi, who appears in her bedroom with a noose around his neck. Mohammad died in 1987 under mysterious circumstances, leaving Grace to question whether his death was suicide, murder, or something else. As she decodes his cryptic messages delivered through song lyrics, her investigation unfolds against a backdrop of conservative Texas politics; cultural tensions; and family trauma, as she is haunted by her own mother’s suicide. The characters are diverse, as Grace presents as Mexican American, Blake is Jewish, and Mohammad is Afghan American. Grace’s ancestral spirit guide is La Llorona, the legendary Hispanic ghost woman—this detail weaves folklore into the modern-day mystery. The premise is ambitious, with themes of family secrets and legacy, identity and belonging, and grief, but some plot points and character relationships could have been further explored.