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Authors: Edith Pattou

Ghosting

BOOK: Ghosting
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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR

GHOSTING BY EDITH PATTOU

S
even teens, a gun, and a harmless prank turned tragedy. We see these young faces illuminated by their cell phones and hear their voices calling out from the darkness in a book that is ultimately both horrifying and healing. Edith Pattou writes with a poet’s ear attuned to the rhythm of the teenage heart. A stunning achievement.

—DEBBY DAHL EDWARDSON,

author of the National Book Award finalist
My Name Is Not Easy

I
flew through
Ghosting
in one sitting. It is in a word, “unputdownable.” Nonstop action, tension and suspense fill the first half of the book; heartfelt emotion, regret, and healing fill the second. Reader, power down all your devices and find a comfortable chair because once you start reading
Ghosting
, you won’t be able to stop!

—LESLÉA NEWMAN,

author of
October Morning: A Song for Matthew Shepard

F
illed with authentic detail and believable teenage voices,
Ghosting
is a gripping account of an all-too-plausible tragedy in a country where there are more guns than people. Pattou’s keen eye for character and ear for convincing dialogue will make this an important and accessible lesson about redemption and forgiveness for young adult readers.

—TODD STRASSER,

author of
Fallout

G
hosting
is timely and compelling, filled with complex and interesting characters. It will hold you in your seat from the first line to the last.

—MARION DANE BAUER,

author of the Newbery Honor Book
On My Honor

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Text copyright © 2014 Edith Pattou

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by Skyscape, New York

www.apub.com

Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Skyscape are trademarks of
Amazon.com
, Inc., or its affiliates.

ISBN-13: 9781477847749 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 147784774X (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781477847893 (paperback)
ISBN-10: 1477847898 (paperback)

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for permission to quote from JOEY PIGZA LOSES CONTROL © 2000 by Jack Gantos. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

Book design by Abby Kuperstock
Cover design by Greg Stadnyk

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014933207

To Robert, who played Mouse Trap with me and who I will miss forever, and to Charles and Vita, as always.

Contents

Start Reading

MAXIE

BEFORE

FAITH

MAXIE

ANIL

EMMA

CHLOE

MAXIE

ANIL

MAXIE

FELIX

BRENDAN

CHLOE

FAITH

WALTER

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

MAXIE

EMMA

BRENDAN

ANIL

CHLOE

FELIX

EMMA

MAXIE

FAITH

BRENDAN

ANIL

FAITH

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

MAXIE

ANIL

FELIX

MAXIE

FELIX

MAXIE

ANIL

MAXIE

CHLOE

FAITH

MAXIE

BRENDAN

MAXIE

ANIL

FAITH

ANIL

MAXIE

EMMA

FAITH

MAXIE

WALTER

EMMA

FELIX

EMMA

ANIL

MAXIE

FAITH

WALTER

FELIX

BRENDAN

MAXIE

EMMA

MAXIE

FAITH

MAXIE

ANIL

MAXIE

EMMA

BRENDAN

MAXIE

AFTER

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

MAXIE

CHLOE

WALTER

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

ANIL

MAXIE

ANIL

MAXIE

FAITH

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

MAXIE

ANIL

MAXIE

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

ANIL

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

EMMA

MAXIE

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

MAXIE

ANIL

EMMA

MAXIE

FAITH

MAXIE

CHLOE

FAITH

ANIL

CHLOE

MAXIE

ANIL

CHLOE

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

CHLOE

ANIL

MAXIE

CHLOE

MAXIE

ANIL

MAXIE

ANIL

MAXIE

CHLOE

MAXIE

BRENDAN

EMMA

BRENDAN

FAITH

EMMA

FAITH

BRENDAN

MAXIE

EMMA

MAXIE

FELIX

MAXIE

FELIX

CHLOE

FAITH

EMMA

FELIX

MAXIE

EMMA

CHLOE

BRENDAN

MAXIE

BRENDAN

CHLOE

BRENDAN

MAXIE

BRENDAN

MAXIE

ANIL

POLICE CHIEF AUBREY DELAFIELD

WALTER

EMMA

EMMA

WALTER SMITH

MAXIE

ANIL

EMMA

MAXIE

Acknowledgments

About the Author

White bird,

crisply folded,

wings its way

into Spring.

E. P.

MAXIE

When I was a little girl

ghosting was

a sheet of paper and

a drawing in

black ink.

A crudely sketched ghost,

with a Tootsie Roll

taped on.

Not scary.

A fun Halloween prank.

You slipped it under a

neighbor’s door,

ran away,

giggling.

“You’ve been ghosted!”

Exciting.

Harmless.

But now

ghosting is:

this can’t be happening,

screams like knives in your ears,

pooling glistening blood.

Everywhere.

And death, bellowing

hot and loud

in

your

face.

BEFORE

Sunday, August 22

FAITH

At the

kitchen table,

eating cereal.

Puffins,

my favorite,

pillowy

with a soft

milky

crunch.

The sun

glares

through

the window,

reflecting off

the stainless-

steel dishwasher.

Even though

my bare feet

are cold

from the

air-conditioning,

I can tell it’s

hot outside

already.

Mom is

at the sink,

rinsing bottles

for recycling.

Polly, our

big black dog

who needs

a haircut,

lies under

the table,

drowsing.

I stick my toes

under her belly

to warm them.

Peaceful.

Then

Emma bursts in,

noisy

and rushed

like always.

Have you seen a hair band? I need a hair band, right now!

Everything is

“right now”

for Emma.

I’m so freaking late! she says.

Polly bounds

up from

under

the table,

tail wagging

a hundred miles

an hour,

panting.

Mom’s back

tightens.

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