Ghost Wood Song

by Erica Waters

Overview

Sawkill Girls meets The Hazel Wood in this lush and eerie debut, where the boundary between reality and nightmares is as thin as the veil between the living and the dead. 

If I could have a fiddle made of Daddy’s bones, I’d play it. I’d learn all the secrets he kept.

Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to call ghosts from the grave with his fiddle, but she also knows the fiddle’s tunes bring nothing but trouble and darkness.

But when her brother is accused of murder, she can’t let the dead keep their secrets.

In order to clear his name, she’s going to have to make those ghosts sing.

Family secrets, a gorgeously resonant LGBTQ love triangle, and just the right amount of creepiness make this young adult debut a haunting and hopeful story about facing everything that haunts us in the dark.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062894236
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/22/2021
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	134,903
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Erica Waters grew up in the pine woods of rural Florida, though she now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. She has a Master’s degree in English and works as a university writing tutor. When she’s not writing books, you can find her hanging out with her two dogs, Nutmeg and Luna, and forgetting to practice her banjo. Ghost Wood Song is her first book, and you can visit her online at www.ericawaters.com.  

Editorial Reviews

What a gorgeous, creepy gem of a book, brimming with magic, mystery, music, and so much love that you’ll ache as if these characters were your actual friends. Ghost Wood Song weaves a captivating spell you won’t want to break.”  — Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn and Sawkill Girls

"Ghost Wood Song sings a high and lonesome love song to family, to place, to music, and to love itself. It will make your heart dance." — Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days

"These haunted pages are full to bursting with intricate family dynamics, a nuanced queer romance, and a crescendo of an ending readers won’t see coming. With notes of southern gothic and mystery, Ghost Wood Song will strike a chord with fans of The Raven Boys and Beautiful Creatures." — Rosiee Thor, author of Tarnished Are the Stars

"Strikes the perfect balance of atmospheric chills, dark familial secrets, and a yearning for the warm comforts of home. I could hear the cicadas' call and feel the smothering humidity, even as I shivered!" — Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author, House of Salt and Sorrows

"Ghost Wood Song is a dusky, haunting daydream of a debut that hits all the right notes." — Dahlia Adler, author of Under the Lights and editor of His Hideous Heart

“A gorgeously written debut filled with ghosts, a queer love triangle, a murder mystery, & a healthy dose of bluegrass. When you finish, you’ll want to turn back to page one and start all over again.”  — Amanda Lovelace, author of The Princess Saves Herself in this One

“Waters' debut features a bisexual lead with both male and female love interests, an atmospheric southern gothic setting, and, for the musically inclined, lots of folk and bluegrass references. For teens with a penchant for eerie ghost stories, this lyrical tale will hit the spot.” — Booklist

“Debut author Waters weaves an intense and spectral atmosphere with vivid prose…Haunting and alluring.” — Kirkus Reviews

"Shady’s rustic drawl tinging her narration, and her descriptions of playing, are lyrical, connecting her grief over her father and chaotic family to an eerie folklore-inspired song…for those who love a good jam session and a bit of folklore." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Debut author Waters masterfully weaves together a gothic setting and a vivid, eerie atmosphere, pulling the reader into Shady’s specter-filled world… This gothic queer romance will be enjoyed by fans of Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls and Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

"Ghost Wood Song is a dusky, haunting daydream of a debut that hits all the right notes."

Dahlia Adler

Waters' debut features a bisexual lead with both male and female love interests, an atmospheric southern gothic setting, and, for the musically inclined, lots of folk and bluegrass references. For teens with a penchant for eerie ghost stories, this lyrical tale will hit the spot.

Booklist

A gorgeously written debut filled with ghosts, a queer love triangle, a murder mystery, & a healthy dose of bluegrass. When you finish, you’ll want to turn back to page one and start all over again.” 

Amanda Lovelace

"Ghost Wood Song sings a high and lonesome love song to family, to place, to music, and to love itself. It will make your heart dance."

Jeff Zentner

"Shady’s rustic drawl tinging her narration, and her descriptions of playing, are lyrical, connecting her grief over her father and chaotic family to an eerie folklore-inspired song…for those who love a good jam session and a bit of folklore."

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"Shady’s rustic drawl tinging her narration, and her descriptions of playing, are lyrical, connecting her grief over her father and chaotic family to an eerie folklore-inspired song…for those who love a good jam session and a bit of folklore."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Waters' debut features a bisexual lead with both male and female love interests, an atmospheric southern gothic setting, and, for the musically inclined, lots of folk and bluegrass references. For teens with a penchant for eerie ghost stories, this lyrical tale will hit the spot.

Booklist

"Shady’s rustic drawl tinging her narration, and her descriptions of playing, are lyrical, connecting her grief over her father and chaotic family to an eerie folklore-inspired song…for those who love a good jam session and a bit of folklore."

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"These haunted pages are full to bursting with intricate family dynamics, a nuanced queer romance, and a crescendo of an ending readers won’t see coming. With notes of southern gothic and mystery, Ghost Wood Song will strike a chord with fans of The Raven Boys and Beautiful Creatures."

Rosiee Thor

What a gorgeous, creepy gem of a book, brimming with magic, mystery, music, and so much love that you’ll ache as if these characters were your actual friends. Ghost Wood Song weaves a captivating spell you won’t want to break.” 

Claire Legrand

"Strikes the perfect balance of atmospheric chills, dark familial secrets, and a yearning for the warm comforts of home. I could hear the cicadas' call and feel the smothering humidity, even as I shivered!"

Erin A. Craig

08/14/2020

Gr 8 Up—Shady Grove is used to ghosts; her childhood home was full of them, since her Daddy's fiddle could raise them from the grave. But her Daddy died a few years ago, and her mom has since remarried. Shady misses her Daddy terribly, but her world is consumed with her day-to-day activities: Will her bluegrass band win the local open mic night? Will her best friend, Sarah, finally talk about the romantic spark between them? Does Shady really trust the hot young rodeo king who looks at her longingly at school? All of that is quickly pushed aside when Shady's brother is accused of murder, and the only way to clear his name is to raise the ghost of the person he might have killed. Debut author Waters masterfully weaves together a gothic setting and a vivid, eerie atmosphere, pulling the reader into Shady's specter-filled world. Music is a central part of this story, and Waters's lyrical prose reflects the delightfully spooky overture on every page. A fleshed-out romantic triangle between bisexual Shady, her gay best friend, and a young mandolin-playing cowboy adds extra dimension to this thriller. While the creepy atmosphere keeps the reader turning pages, the pacing is a bit jarring, with chapters dedicated to character development before multiple important events happen in rapid succession. Most characters are white and one of Shady's friends is Cuban American. VERDICT This gothic queer romance will be enjoyed by fans of Claire Legrand's Sawkill Girls and Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood. Recommend for purchase.—Annamarie Carlson, Westerville P.L., OH

School Library Journal

2020-05-03
A fiddler with a magical instrument and a haunted family history unleashes her music to solve a mystery and free her brother from jail.

Sixteen-year-old Shady Grove grieves for the sound of her dead father’s fiddle, a family heirloom with the power to raise ghosts. She yearns to play bluegrass with the same darkness and emotion. However, Sarah, Shady’s best friend, crush, and band mate, only wants to play new music, folk-rock songs that Shady doesn’t feel a connection to. When Shady’s stepdad gets murdered and her brother is arrested for the crime, she digs up her father’s old instrument and uncovers the secrets of her family’s past. Debut author Waters weaves an intense and spectral atmosphere with vivid prose. A love triangle complicates bisexual Shady’s feelings as mutual attraction and interests draw her to mandolin-playing cowboy Cedar. The romantic conflict heightens the suspense while also exploring relationship compatibility. The high stakes of an impending trial and a looming supernatural threat drive a sense of urgency into the narrative. The resolution of this stand-alone thriller ties up loose ends in both Shady’s past and present, offering healing for her family and ending on a positive, hopeful note. Apart from Shady’s friend and band mate Orlando, a Cuban American boy who loves guajira music and is a budding entomologist, the cast is predominantly white.

Haunting and alluring. (Paranormal mystery. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews