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Summary
Summary
In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she's forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love--a boy who died in battle--returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.Praise for In The Shadow of BlackbirdsSTARRED REVIEW "Winters's masterful debut novel is an impressively researched marriage of the tragedies of wartime, the 1918 flu epidemic, the contemporaneous Spiritualism craze, and a chilling love story and mystery."--Publishers Weekly, starred reviewSTARRED REVIEW "More than anything, this is a story of the breaking point between sanity and madness, delivered in a straightforward and welcoming teen voice."--Booklist, starred reviewSTARRED REVIEW "Winters deftly combines mystery, ghost story, historical fiction, and romance. Excellent pacing and deliciously creepy descriptions..."--School Library Journal, starred review"This engrossing combination of historical fiction, ghost story, psychological thriller, and straight-up whodunit moves between genres with stunning ease, maximizing the tropes of each to satisfying effect."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"Winters strikes just the right balance between history and ghost story, neatly capturing the tenor of the times, as growing scientific inquiry collided with heightened spiritualist curiosity."--Kirkus Reviews"Mary Shelley is a likable, sympathetic heroine, and through her story, teen readers will get a glimpse of a fascinating time period, made all the more real by the haunting historic photographs that pepper the novel, from soldiers in trenches to policemen in gauze masks. Part romance, part mystery and part ghost story, In the Shadow of Blackbirds makes palpable a terrifying time that brought the horror of death into the homes of millions."--Bookpage"One of the creepiest (in a good way) covers of the season! What's inside, historical Y.A. set at the time of the Spanish influenza, is equally haunting."--The Atlantic Wire"Cat Winter's debut novel is creepy good."--The Boston Globe"Romance fans will love Stephen's ghostly visits to Mary Shelley, confirming that their romance is as steamy as ever. Mystery lovers will enjoy the satisfactory resolution of the puzzle. Recommend this title to fans of Libba Bray's The Diviners."--VOYA"In this book, the passion of first love and the paranoia of the times are realistically and movingly rendered."--The Oregonian"Beautifully written and absolutely riveting. I enjoyed everything about this book."--The Statesman JournalAwardWilliam C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist 2014School Library Journal Best Book of 20132014 Best Fiction for Young Adults
Author Notes
Cat Winters is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novels Odd & True , The Steep and Thorny Way , The Cure for Dreaming , and In the Shadow of Blackbirds , which collected three starred reviews and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award for debut YA fiction. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black lives up to her striking name-she's a curious girl fascinated by science, living in 1918, "a year the devil designed," as Mary puts it. With WWI raging on and Mary's father on trial for treason, she goes to live with her Aunt Eva in San Diego, Calif., even as influenza sweeps across America, devastating the population and rendering those left behind paranoid and weary. Grieving for her childhood beau Stephen, who died while fighting overseas with the Army, Mary goes outside during a thunderstorm and is struck dead by lightning-for a few minutes. When Mary comes to, she discovers she can communicate with the dead, including Stephen. Winters's masterful debut novel is an impressively researched marriage of the tragedies of wartime, the 1918 flu epidemic, the contemporaneous Spiritualism craze, and a chilling love story and mystery. Unsettling b&w period photographs appear throughout, a la Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, greatly adding to the novel's deliciously creepy atmosphere. Ages 12-up. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Agency. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Against the graphic backdrop of the 1918 flu pandemic and the horrific physical condition of many soldiers returning from WWI, sixteen-year-old skeptic Mary Shelley Black begins to question her opinions about the spiritualist movement when she finds she's able to communicate with her deceased lover. This novel's vivid San Diego setting is enhanced with well-chosen archival photographs, but the plot is overburdened with events. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Winters' debut ropes in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, WWI shell shock, national prejudice, and spirit photography, and yet never loses focus from its primary thesis: desperation will make people believe and do almost anything. Mary Shelley Black, 16, has been sent to live with her aunt in San Diego, a city crawling with gauze mask-wearing citizens fearful of catching the deadly virus. Loss is everywhere, which means booming business for spirit photographer Julius, the older brother of Mary's true love, Stephen, who is off fighting in the trenches. Stephen's death coincides with Mary suffering electrocution, an event with strange aftereffects: Mary sends compass needles spinning, can taste emotions, and begins to see and hear Stephen's ghost, in torment over the maniacal birdmen that tortured and killed him. Mary believes his spirit will rest when she uncovers the truth about his death a truth more horrifying than most readers will expect. A scattering of period photos, including eerie examples of spirit photography, further the sense of time and place, but the main event here is Winters' unconventional and unflinching look at one of the darkest patches of American history. More than anything, this is a story of the breaking point between sanity and madness, delivered in a straightforward and welcoming teen voice.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-During the 1918 flu pandemic, 16-year-old Mary chafes at her neighbor's insistence that he can capture the spirits of dead loved ones in his photographs, even as Mary mourns the loss of her boyfriend who was killed on the front in Europe. In this spooky tale, Winters captures the intense paranoia and fear brought about by war and death. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A bright young woman is caught between science and spiritualism in her quest to make sense of a world overcome with war and disease in 1918 California. Mary Shelley Black's world has been turned upside down by the arrest of her father at their home in Portland, Ore. It is 1918, and the country is at war; those who speak out against it, like her father, find themselves persecuted. Mary Shelley flees to her Aunt Eva in San Diego to avoid possible fallout from the arrest and since it might be a better place to wait out the influenza epidemic that is sweeping the country. Her new home allows her to reconnect with the family of her first love, Stephen, now a soldier fighting in the war. This place is just as full of anxiety and fear as Portland, the toll from war and disease sending her families grasping at anything to alleviate their pain. Stephen's distasteful half brother, Julius, exploits those fears and the growing interest in the occult by serving as a "spirit photographer"--an occupation Mary Shelley is skeptical of until Stephen is killed and she is visited by his ghost. Winters strikes just the right balance between history and ghost story, neatly capturing the tenor of the times, as growing scientific inquiry collided with heightened spiritualist curiosity. Vintage photographs contribute to the authenticity of the atmospheric and nicely paced storytelling. (Historical fiction. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
