Lilac may live in Salem, Massachusetts with her two married-to-each-other uncles (whom “she considered to be her parents”) and grandmother, but she believes in science and math, not ghosts. She assumes that Uncle Bell is faking the séances he conducts. When he has trouble during one séance, however, she pretends that she’s heard a spirit’s message. Her uncles mistakenly think she is displaying the secret family talent for communicating with spirits, and want to enroll her in the Spindlewood School of Seeing.
Driven by her innate curiosity, she goes along with the ploy, despite the risk of having her memory wiped if authorities find out that she is Unseeing. Her deception also means lying to new friends, including the helpful but ostracized Emmanuelle, even as feelings between them deepen into a possible crush. As she uses her smarts to keep up the façade, however, spooky happenings on campus point to dangerous mysteries about the school—mysteries that might hit close to home. Can Lilac and Emmanuelle figure out what is happening and stop the pending disaster?
The book flips the “chosen one at a magic school” trope on its head to give us a protagonist who seems to be the only one not chosen. Despite her lack of Seeing talent, however, Lilac is clever and resourceful, and readers will likely root for her as she navigates her varied challenges. The storyline tackles classic middle-grade themes like social dynamics and self-discovery, while also it thoughtfully explores grief and its effects, wrapping it all in a satisfyingly twisty plot. Author Freddie Kölsch paints a compelling picture of the school and its denizens, human and ghostly, adding in an occasional omniscient and slightly stuffy narrator to define some words and hint at mysteries to come.
In addition to the queer characters above, one student is nonbinary, and one man, an administrator at the school, has a husband. The school brochure specifies “all genders welcome.” Several characters also have disabilities: one student uses a wheelchair, one speaks with a lisp, and one teacher is blind. Both queerness and disability are normalized, but addressed when relevant; for example, the teacher matter-of-factly tells students to keep the classroom aisles clear and to say their names rather than just raising their hands to answer questions.
I particularly love that although Lilac shows curiosity about the mother who died when she was a baby and the father she never knew, she still expresses the strong feeling that her uncles, who raised her, are her parents in fact if not by traditional definition. They are the ones with whom she has a child-parent bond, and that never falters. That tracks with sentiments I’ve heard from real people with LGBTQ parents who may be interested in who their genetic parents are, but nevertheless have their primary emotional connection to the parents who raised them, even if they are not descended from them by genetics.
The spooky school setting evokes other queer-inclusive titles like Deephaven and Labyrinth of Souls, with an occasional touch reminiscent of Lemony Snicket. It’s a highly recommended title and the start of a promising duology.
Lilac and her family read as White; students and teachers at the school reflect a variety of racial/ethnic identities.
