In October 1918, with too many young men dying in the world war and with devastating casualties from the Spanish influenza pandemic, 25-year-old Ivy Rowan encounters the ghost of her older brother Billy—one of the "uninvited" she and her mother have always had the power to see just before someone dies. Barely recovering from the flu and hearing a disturbance in the kitchen, Ivy discovers that her father and younger brother have just murdered a local German immigrant to avenge Billy's death. Driven by the anger and guilt she feels on their behalf, Ivy moves into town and into the arms of the murdered man's brother, Daniel. They rebuild Daniel's home and store, which had been destroyed during the attack. Finding a room to rent with a war widow, Ivy begins driving an ambulance each night to transport influenza-stricken victims from certain death in impoverished areas to better health care. It is only later, upon discovering answers to a mystery that Daniel has been hiding, that Ivy must face up to certain truths about him and herself. This ghost story blurs the line between life and death and leaves readers to wonder just where that line begins.
VERDICT There's much to like here for teens: an earnest young woman who wants to do right by those who her family has wronged while participating for the first time in the many opportunities that life can offer.
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