Teenreads.com -- THE SECRET LIFE OF SPARROW DELANEY by Suzanne Harper

THE SECRET LIFE OF SPARROW DELANEY
Suzanne Harper
Greenwillow Books
Fiction
Hardcover: 006113158X
Paperback: 9780061131608
368 pages

Sparrow Delaney has just turned 15. She lives in Lily Dale, New York, a town known for its practice of Spiritualism since the late 19th century. Lily Dale is also a place where many mediums live and work; outsiders and non-believers have nicknamed the town “Spookyville.” Sparrow’s mother, grandmother and six sisters (who are also named after birds) rely on their psychic powers to help put a roof over their heads and food on the table. Her father left years ago for an exotic adventure and has never returned.

From the time she was a little girl, Sparrow has been living with a secret. As the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, she is an especially talented medium who began seeing spirits at a young age. But she doesn’t want her family or anyone else to know about this special gift. Sparrow would like to be normal --- to live in the suburbs in a house with a white picket fence, where dads barbeque on Sundays and kids play soccer.

Sparrow blocks out the ghosts that appear from time to time, especially when her mother and grandmother host psychic readings, which they call “serving Spirit.” But Sparrow opens up to her three spirit guides. Floyd, her gatekeeper, has watched over her since she was born and first appeared when she was five. Parajeet appeared when Sparrow was 10; his job is to help her understand metaphysical concepts. And the mission of her most recent spirit guide, Professor Edna Trimble, is to ensure that Sparrow lives up to her potential.

When the school district redraws the high school boundaries, Sparrow jumps at the opportunity to attend a new school, where no one knows about her family or her psychic sisters and where she can blend in with the other students. As Sparrow puts it, “When you have a deep, dark secret to hide, a new beginning is a very good thing.”

After calming her new-school jitters, Sparrow settles in and meets some other students. She even makes a few friends but also comes in contact with a persistent ghost named Luke, who refuses to be ignored.

In one of her classes she is partnered with Jack Dawson, a cute boy who is also sarcastic and surly. Their teacher gives the class an assignment to research some aspect of local history and pairs up Sparrow and Jack as research partners. To her dismay, and despite her strong protests, Jack insists on researching Spookyville, and Luke, the ghost, keeps showing up at the most inopportune times.

Sparrow tries her best to hide her family from Jack and her other new friends, determined to keep her gift a secret. But it turns out that Jack also has a secret --- and a special reason for selecting Spookyville for their project. And it seems that Luke has an important mission of his own in Sparrow’s life.

THE SECRET LIFE OF SPARROW DELANEY is a charming story about being different and being true to who you are. With its lively characters, a great voice, an intriguing setting, a touch of romance and a dash of history for good measure, this is a reading experience to enjoy and savor.

--- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt (dvolkenannt@charter.net)

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