The forgotten girl /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"This ghost story gave me chill after chill. It will haunt you." -- R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps

"Do you know what it feels like to be forgotten?"

On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris carefully makes a perfect snow angel -- only to find the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore, right beneath her.

Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...

Obsessed with figuring out what's going on, Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life -- and in death. As Iris and Daniel learn more about their town's past, they become determined to restore Avery's grave and finally have proper respect paid to Avery and the others buried there.

But they have awakened a jealous and demanding ghost, one that's not satisfied with their plans for getting recognition. One that is searching for a best friend forever -- no matter what the cost.

The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery.

"A harrowing yet empowering tale reminding us that the past is connected to the present, that every place and every person has a story, and that those stories deserve to be told." -- Renée Watson, New York Times bestselling author of Piecing Me Together

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Their parents warned them not to go into the woods by themselves. And Suga warned them twice as much about the spirits of the snow. How they preyed on children who wandered out in the snowy darkness alone. But in that little clearing, there was a fresh, untouched blanket of snow, calling her farther into the woods, just before that impenetrable wall of darkness. She pointed a purple-gloved finger. "Let's go over there." Daniel cleared his throat. "Iris, we can't go over there. We shouldn't even be out here." She rolled her eyes. "It'll just be for a second. I promise." She added, when he frowned at her, "Please? Come on." He nodded slowly. Iris pulled him farther, past the edge of the big clearing, through the next line of trees, to the smaller one. The darkness seemed so solid as it surrounded them, it felt like they were in a cave. All around her, Iris could only see trees. As if they'd entered another world. The trees seemed to stand in anticipation under the pink-and-black snowy sky. Watching, waiting, so still as the snow touched the branches. She shivered, probably because of the cold. She lay down slowly, the cold pressing closer against her back than it had before. She moved her arms and legs, making the angel, ignoring a strange feeling that she was slowly sinking into the snow... Daniel reached out his hand and pulled her up. Iris shook the feeling off and smiled. She was proud of her work. "I've never made a snow angel this good!" She looked at Daniel to agree, but he was leaning over, frowning at her angel. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at it. "Look." She peered more closely at the angel, the way her dress flared around her feet, her arms frozen in midair as if she'd finally gotten their attention. There was something buried, just barely, under the snow angel's chest, where her heart would be. It glistened in the moonlight. They bent over and worked together to uncover it. Their hands froze in midair, mimicking the angels'. Daniel gasped. "Iris, that's..." Iris stared down at the crumbling stone, a gust of cold air pushing past her, forcing her to speak. "A grave." Excerpted from The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Both historically and culturally relevant, Brown's thoughtful ghost story explores the legacy of racism through segregation. In North Carolina, Iris and her best friend Daniel, both African-American, sneak out one night to play in just-fallen snow, only to stumble upon the abandoned grave of Avery Moore, who died in 1956 at their current age: 11. After repeatedly finding her bedroom window open, Iris sees "the shimmering, gray shadow of a girl emerging from her window." When Iris and Daniel decide to conduct their social studies project on abandoned graves, they find that Avery's is part of an entire segregated black cemetery that has faded from history. Iris struggles with erasure at school and getting less attention than her sibling at home, ideas that intertwine as Avery's ghost emerges and seeks recognition. Through Daniel's close-knit family--his single mother and superstitious grandmother, both coping with his father's death--the novel also explores the multifaceted nature of grief alongside close childhood friendships and the historical significance of racism. Although secondary characters can feel a bit one-dimensional, the story is robust enough to balance it out, making this a solid debut in which the horrors are both historical and spectral. Ages 8--12. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (Nov.)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 3--7--Iris is a young African American girl who loves the snow and adventure. She had been warned by her parents not to play in the woods behind her house. One night, Iris gets her best friend Daniel to sneak out into the woods to play in the snow. They stumble upon an abandoned graveyard and Iris uncovers the name Avery Moore on one of the tombstones and decides to find out who she was. Avery begins to visit Iris in her dreams, asking for help to be remembered. Iris convinces Daniel to make segregated graveyards the focus of their group project at school. Their initial research turns up little evidence of Avery's life or death. A conversation with Daniel's grandmother Suga begins to point them in the right direction. Iris and Daniel will have to work together to make sure their voices are heard at school and that Avery Moore is remembered. This is a story about the ways African American communities have been and continue to be marginalized. America's segregated past and the structures still in place to keep us separate are explored through Avery's experiences then and Iris's experiences now. The horror elements in the story are fantastically creepy and the author uses a mixture of urban legends and tall tales to create a sense of fear and foreboding. VERDICT A solid title for public and school libraries in search of horror with roots in black history.--Desiree Thomas, Worthington Library, OH

Booklist Review

Iris often has trouble differentiating between reality and her nightmares. This is especially true when the nightmares become so real that she can literally feel the goosebumps raise on her skin. One night she realizes her dreams might be more than what they seem when she wakes to her window blown wide open and the distant shadow of a young girl calling out to her from the woods by her house. Inspired by her nightmare, Iris sets out to learn the origin of the shadowed girl and learns that the woods she plays in were once a segregated cemetery for Black citizens. In Brown's debut, she sets the stage for a promising writing career as she crafts strong middle-grade characters who will undoubtedly be enjoyed by children and adults alike. The pacing of the plot will surely send a chill through the readers' spines as they follow Iris and her journey with the paranormal. Brown takes on the daunting task of conveying fright and the growing realization of marginalization through child's voices with ease in this eerie read.--Tiana Coven Copyright 2019 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Two friends stumble upon an abandoned cemetery in the woods behind their houses.Best friends Iris and Daniel, both African American, are having a hard year. At school, Iris is struggling to get the recognition she craves as captain of the step team, and at home, her 4-year-old sister steals their parents' attention. Daniel's father is recently deceased, and he feels the need to be extra careful so his mom and grandmother don't experience loss again. Brown's portrayals of Iris' angst and Daniel's grief are deftly written and accessible for readers. Despite their challenges, the friends know they can count on each other, so when Iris begs Daniel to come outside in the middle of the night to experience the first snow, he ignores his grandmother's superstitious warning about the spirits of the snow who prey on children and joins her. After a snowball fight in the woods, Iris makes a snow angel and realizes she is actually lying on top of a grave. The headstone reveals that the grave's occupant is a girl named Avery, who was 12, just like them. After that first night, Avery haunts Iris, compelling Iris to return to her and right the wrongs that left her in limbo. The book struggles with pacing, but the historical information about school desegregation, segregated cemeteries, and the Great Migration are welcome, unique additions.A ghostly tale with a historical twist. (Paranormal adventure. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

India Hill Brown graduated with a bachelor of arts in mass communication from Claflin University. She was born and raised in South Carolina and currently lives there with her husband and son. Her debut novel, The Forgotten Girl , was an NAACP Image Award nominee and an ALSC Notable Children's Book. She has worked for HBO, New York Magazine , and the University of South Carolina, and has written for publications such as Teen Vogue , Apartment Therapy, and Sesi Magazine . When she's not working on her novels, she can be found playing around with her toddler, reading a book, or writing in her (many) notebooks. Learn more at IndiaHillBrown.com, and follow her on YouTube (youtube.com/booksandbighair) and on Instagram (@booksandbighair).