The Year of Shadows
Claire Legrand
(Author)
Karl Kwasny
(Illustrator)
Description
Olivia wants a new life--and it might take ghosts to get it. A heartfelt, gently Gothic novel from Claire Legrand. Olivia Stellatella is having a rough year. Her mother's left, her neglectful father--the maestro of a failing orchestra--has moved her and her grandmother into the city's dark, broken-down concert hall to save money, and her only friend is Igor, an ornery stray cat. Just when she thinks life couldn't get any weirder, she meets four ghosts who haunt the hall. They need Olivia's help--if the hall is torn down, they'll be stuck as ghosts forever, never able to move on. Olivia has to do the impossible for her shadowy new friends: Save the concert hall. But helping the dead has powerful consequences for the living...and soon it's not just the concert hall that needs saving.Product Details
Price
$16.99
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publish Date
August 27, 2013
Pages
406
Dimensions
5.8 X 8.3 X 1.3 inches | 1.05 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781442442948
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Claire Legrand is the author of Foxheart, The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, The Year of Shadows, and Some Kind of Happiness, as well as the New York Times-bestselling young adult fantasy Furyborn and its sequels. She is one of the four authors behind The Cabinet of Curiosities. Claire Legrand lives in New Jersey.
Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is weirdly charming and creepy. I loved the intrepid girl hero Victoria and her determination to save her best friend from the scariest Home ever. An enormously fun--and shivery--read.--Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief series
A heartwarming friendship tale--played out amid carpets of chittering insects, torture both corporal and psychological, the odd bit of cannibalism and like ghoulish delights. A thoroughgoing ickfest, elevated by vulnerable but resilient young characters and capped by a righteously ominous closing twist.--Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief series "Kirkus, starred review"
The too-serene-to-be-true town of Belleville harbors some creepy secrets in Legrand's debut, a sinister and occasionally playful tale of suspense. Legrand gives Victoria's mission a prickly energy, and her descriptions of the sighing, heaving home--a character in itself--are the stuff of bad dreams. Watts's b&w illustrations of spindly characters, cryptic shadows, and cramped corridors amplify the unsettling ambiance, and her roach motif may have readers checking their arms.--Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief series "Publisher's Weekly"
Insidiously creepy, searingly sinister, and spine-tinglingly fun, this book also presents a powerful message about friendship and the value of individuality.--Joy Fleishhacker "School Library Journal"
Claire LeGrand's fantastically spooky The Year of Shadows will keep you turning its pages well into the night, even though the floorboards are creaking and funny shapes lurk in the corner of your eye. Such is the allure of tempestuous, terrific Olivia, the complex and utterly real heroine who is suffering from one misfortune and indignity too many--and that's before the ghosts arrive. Though we soon see that sometimes ghosts are the least of the things that haunt us, the book assures us that with spirit and hope we can create light in the most shadowy of places. Also, like all the best books, it has a really great cat.--Anne Ursu, author of Breadcrumbs "School Library Journal"
A sad, happy, strange book, with some of the most memorable ghosts I've ever read. It's full of shadows, but it's also full of sparks and light and big, glowing scenes, and while it'll break your heart more than once, it somehow manages to glue it all back together by the end. I loved it.--Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot "School Library Journal"
The blend of spooky but mostly harmless thrills, and family drama makes for a compelling storyline, and Olivia's grief over her mother's departure and her subsequent anger at her father are both realistic and
relatable. Olivia is likable even at her snarkiest, and the ways in which she comes to care for the ghosts and even a few living people are sometimes touching. The secret behind the shade's existence adds a bit of complexity to the missing mother story, and the happy ending feels well deserved for a central character who has had her fair share of sadness.--Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot "The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"
Legrand has created a horror-tinged tale of triumph over loss and the destructive nature of hopelessness, that is full of well-rounded characters, a spooky gothic mood, and eerie glimpses into the past lives of the ghosts.--Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot "Booklist"
A heartwarming friendship tale--played out amid carpets of chittering insects, torture both corporal and psychological, the odd bit of cannibalism and like ghoulish delights. A thoroughgoing ickfest, elevated by vulnerable but resilient young characters and capped by a righteously ominous closing twist.--Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief series "Kirkus, starred review"
The too-serene-to-be-true town of Belleville harbors some creepy secrets in Legrand's debut, a sinister and occasionally playful tale of suspense. Legrand gives Victoria's mission a prickly energy, and her descriptions of the sighing, heaving home--a character in itself--are the stuff of bad dreams. Watts's b&w illustrations of spindly characters, cryptic shadows, and cramped corridors amplify the unsettling ambiance, and her roach motif may have readers checking their arms.--Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief series "Publisher's Weekly"
Insidiously creepy, searingly sinister, and spine-tinglingly fun, this book also presents a powerful message about friendship and the value of individuality.--Joy Fleishhacker "School Library Journal"
Claire LeGrand's fantastically spooky The Year of Shadows will keep you turning its pages well into the night, even though the floorboards are creaking and funny shapes lurk in the corner of your eye. Such is the allure of tempestuous, terrific Olivia, the complex and utterly real heroine who is suffering from one misfortune and indignity too many--and that's before the ghosts arrive. Though we soon see that sometimes ghosts are the least of the things that haunt us, the book assures us that with spirit and hope we can create light in the most shadowy of places. Also, like all the best books, it has a really great cat.--Anne Ursu, author of Breadcrumbs "School Library Journal"
A sad, happy, strange book, with some of the most memorable ghosts I've ever read. It's full of shadows, but it's also full of sparks and light and big, glowing scenes, and while it'll break your heart more than once, it somehow manages to glue it all back together by the end. I loved it.--Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot "School Library Journal"
The blend of spooky but mostly harmless thrills, and family drama makes for a compelling storyline, and Olivia's grief over her mother's departure and her subsequent anger at her father are both realistic and
relatable. Olivia is likable even at her snarkiest, and the ways in which she comes to care for the ghosts and even a few living people are sometimes touching. The secret behind the shade's existence adds a bit of complexity to the missing mother story, and the happy ending feels well deserved for a central character who has had her fair share of sadness.--Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot "The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"
Legrand has created a horror-tinged tale of triumph over loss and the destructive nature of hopelessness, that is full of well-rounded characters, a spooky gothic mood, and eerie glimpses into the past lives of the ghosts.--Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot "Booklist"
