Spooky is the New Normal

Spookygirl is in the ABNA semifinals! It received a Publishers Weekly review as part of the contest, and I am totally wowed by the reviewer's take:

Sparkling with a light and humorous touch, this paranormal YA novel skillfully balances entertainment and substance. Violet Addison has just moved in with her dad above his funeral home in Florida. While some think it's freaky, it doesn't bother her -- she's comfortable with the dead. So comfortable, in fact, that she's perfectly happy to have conversations with the ghosts that hang around the house. What does bother her, however, is starting at a new school for her sophomore year and knowing that rumors will soon surface about her dad killing her mom during their last paranormal investigation. Violet knows that can't be true, even though she's never had a chance to ask her mom's ghost herself. But once school starts there's a bigger issue: a possible hellgate in the girls' locker room. "I couldn't very well explain that I needed to transfer out of gym because the locker room is full of vile, dripping evil," Violet notes. As she digs through her mom's old ghost-hunting equipment so she can investigate the malevolent force in the showers, Violet finds the unfinished report on her mom's fatal investigation. Hoping for answers and maybe some closure, Violet decides to finish her mom's write-up, never realizing how much danger she's about to uncover. Written in a clean and natural style, this novel manages to be both poignant and fun. Solid pacing and well-developed characters support a fresh take on this genre that will appeal on many levels.

Violet herself isn't too sure what to make of the word "sparkling" -- no self-respecting spookygirl wants to be sparkly. I'm trying to convince her it's a compliment.