Book Descriptions
for The Diviners by Libba Bray
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
An elaborate, satisfying supernatural mystery with more than a little of the macabre opens as a recently released dark spirit begins terrorizing 1926 New York City, roaming from the Bowery to the haunts of the wealthy to the streets of Harlem with murder on its mind. Seventeen-year-old Evie O’Neill has come to New York from Ohio, sent to stay with her uncle, curator at the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition and the Occult. Evie has a secret—when she holds an object, she learns things about the person it belonged to. When her uncle is consulted by the police after a gruesome murder, Evie goes along. She touches the shoe buckle of the young dead woman and gets flashes of what happened to her. Meanwhile, in Harlem, Memphis Campbell is worried about his younger brother, Isaiah, who is having visions in his dreams. Memphis himself was once a healer, but his gift failed him when he needed it most and he refuses to try again. Evie and Memphis and other distinctive young adult characters—from Ziegfeld Girl Theta Knight to con man Sam Lloyd—all have supernatural abilities that will be needed as evil descends on the city. In most cases, they’ve never told anyone what they can do, but as their lives intersect, it becomes apparent fate is showing its hand. By story’s end, one mystery is solved, but others are barely beginning to surface, setting the stage for subsequent volumes of this inspired new series set against a richly developed historical backdrop. (Age 13 and older)
CCBC Choices 2013. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2013. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A young woman discovers her mysterious powers could help catch a killer in the first book of The Diviners series--a stunning supernatural historical mystery set in 1920s New York City, from Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray.
Evangeline O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and sent off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries he'll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far.
When the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfurl in the city that never sleeps. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened....
Evangeline O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and sent off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries he'll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far.
When the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfurl in the city that never sleeps. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened....
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.