In the Shadow of Blackbirds | First Edition Edition

Details about In the Shadow of Blackbirds:

A teenager navigates a world of disease and war in a novel that “deftly combines mystery, ghost story, historical fiction, and romance . . . atmospheric and eerie” (School Library Journal).   Finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award   In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her? Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.   “[An] unconventional and unflinching look at one of the darkest patches of American history. More than anything, this is a story of the breaking point between sanity and madness, delivered in a straightforward and welcoming teen voice.” —Booklist (starred review)   “Masterful. . . . an impressively researched marriage of the tragedies of wartime, the 1918 flu epidemic, the contemporaneous Spiritualism craze, and a chilling love story and mystery.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)   “Winters strikes just the right balance between history and ghost story, neatly capturing the tenor of the times, as growing scientific inquiry collided with heightened spiritualist curiosity.” —Kirkus Reviews   “A rare kind of wartime story, a rare kind of love story, and a rare kind of story altogether.” —The Guardian