Haunting the Deep

Gr 7 Up—Ghosts, witchcraft, the Titanic, and supernatural romance churn together in this elaborate but entertaining sequel to How To Hang a Witch. After surviving a deadly curse during the first part of her school year at Salem High School, 15-year-old Samantha Mather is ready to put drama behind her and focus on spending time with her father who recently awoke from a coma. It doesn't take long, however, for a new curse to reveal itself when Sam experiences a series of realistic dreams where she is a passenger on the Titanic. Dreams mingle with reality; her high school's dance theme happens to be the Titanic, and a series of terrifying events involving the ghost of a drowned man and the appearance of unexplained artifacts from the ship mar her waking life. The Descendants (a group of classmates who are descended from the hanged Salem witches) have evolved from enemies to close friends, and work closely with Sam to understand the magic behind the curse while testing increasingly complicated spells of their own. Jaxon, Sam's too-good-to-be-true neighbor and would-be love interest is also back, along with Elijah, the sexy 17th-century ghost and object of Sam's affection. Although the plot feels unwieldy at times with too many details and characters to keep track of, Mather's writing style is highly accessible and addictive. Descriptions of spell-casting and the possession of magical powers are intriguing but beg for more world-building details. Fans of Libba Bray's The Diviners and Maureen Johnson's "Shades of London" series will love this title.