Ghosting
Authors: Edith Pattou
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
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
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.