FICTION

One for Sorrow

by Mary Downing HAHN
304p. Clarion. Jul. 2017. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780544818095.
COPY ISBN
Gr 4–7—In September of 1918, Annie Browne moves to Mount Pleasant, MD, and begins attending an all-girls school. Well liked at her old school, Annie isn't prepared for the immediate derision her classmates, especially popular Rosie, direct at her after she's befriended by outcast Elsie Schneider. Elsie is considered a thief, a liar, and a tattletale, and Annie quickly agrees. So when Elsie is out sick for a week, Annie takes advantage of her freedom to make new friends. Soon Annie joins the other girls in bullying Elsie, both emotionally and physically. But when Elsie becomes a victim of the deadly Spanish influenza pandemic, her desire for revenge—and for Annie's friendship—doesn't die with her. While the historical aspects of the novel appear to be accurate, Hahn doesn't provide any reference materials, and her integration of period-appropriate cultural elements such as games, books, and rhymes becomes over-the-top toward the end of the narrative. In addition, with the exception of Annie's mother, every character remains convinced that Elsie deserves to be mistreated; readers may come away with the impression that the author condones bullying. On the upside, the scenes with the ghostly Elsie are fairly terrifying.
VERDICT Readers seeking a scary story would be better served by Neil Gaiman's Coraline, while Gloria Whelan's Listening for Lions offers a much more compelling look at the Spanish influenza epidemic. An additional purchase.
Reviewed by Kaitlin Frick, New York Public Library
When sixth-grader Annie enters a new school in the fall of 1918, she's understandably eager to make friends. Rosie is the most popular girl in class, but before Annie can approach her, the needy, clingy, awful Elsie Schneider (who is the main target of Rosie's ridicule) grabs her hand and announces, "We're going to be friends, Annie Browne. I knew it when I saw you come through the door." Elsie smothers Annie, completely isolating her from the rest of the class. Only when Elsie misses a couple of days of school does Annie get a chance to become part of Rosie's group, fully realizing that the price she will pay is to join in the others' mocking and taunting of Elsie. Then the Spanish influenza epidemic hits, and Elsie dies. When Annie goes sledding near the cemetery and unwittingly bumps into Elsie's tombstone, it releases her vengeful ghost. Able to hijack Annie's voice and hurl insults at anyone who ever wronged her, Elsie insists that she will "have the friend I wanted when I was alive--you, Annie." As usual, Hahn excels in atmosphere and mood, and Elsie's claustrophobic presence chills throughout. Annie's helplessness--after all, who will believe it's a spirit saying all those evil things?--escalates the tension in this unsettling ghost story that adroitly incorporates the historical setting with the themes of bullying and personal responsibility. betty carter
 , Jul 01, 2017

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