Et cetera : What We're Reading: One for Sorrow

VPL Note: We have "One For Sorrow" by Mary Downing Hahn available for checkout in our juvenile fiction section.

I started to read this book one evening and had to read rather late to finish. The book is labeled juvenile fiction but was rather creepy; use your own judgement!

Annie Browne is new to Pearce Academy and wants to make friends in this new environment, but she is shy and doesn't know how. However, on the first day of school, Annie is unexpectedly befriended by Elsie, the school bully. Of all the girls in the class, Annie most wanted to be accepted by Rosie, the red-haired, rough-and-tumble tomboy who leads the others: Eunice, Lucy, and Jane. Unfortunately, Elsie immediately latches onto poor Annie and will not let go!

This book takes place in the years surrounding the Influenza epidemic, and this takes a mental as well as physical toll on the entire town. This is truly a ghost story worthy of the name, especially after one of the girls dies and comes back to haunt those who have tormented her. Annie is the target, but when she tries to explain the things that are happening, she ends up in a mental hospital. Guess what?! Elsie comes to her there too! Of course, nobody believes that a dead girl is pranking her, so Annie continues to live there until she "tells the truth."

I loved this book and can't wait to read more of Hahn's chilling tales! It could be a little intense, so I recommend it to those who are ready for a challenge. Overall, I'd rate it as a 10/10.

~Connie, Library Assistant