Ruined, by Paula Morris
Ruined, by Paula Morris
Ruined is the story of Rebecca Brown, a teenager sent to live with a family friend in New Orleans when her father has to travel to China on business. Rebecca would much rather have gone to China than to New Orleans, where she lives in a rundown home across the street from a cemetery in the French Quarter and goes to Temple Mead Academy, a snooty private school for girls.
Then, one night, she follows the snootiest of the girls into Lafayette Cemetery. While there, Rebecca meets another teenager, a black girl named Lisette. At first, Rebecca thinks that Lisette was made homeless by Hurricane Katrina and has been living in the cemetery, but it doesn't take too long for her to figure out that she was wrong. Lisette lives in the cemetery, because she was entombed there. Lisette is a ghost.
Rebecca gets drawn into the story of Lisette's murder and the curse placed on the family of the queen bee of Temple Mead Academy by Lisette's mother. The tale is that the curse will be broken in this generation, but is there really a curse? And what will it take to break it?
This is a fantastic spooky, atmospheric tale of the supernatural. In one of my favorite passages, Rebecca accompanies Lisette on her annual trip from the cemetery to her home in the Tremé neighborhood, and Rebecca gets to see some of the ghosts that fill the city.
I loved this book. There are, however, one continuity error and a couple of head-scratching moments about the conclusion, though, which I'll detail in a spoiler-tagged comment.
Ruined is the story of Rebecca Brown, a teenager sent to live with a family friend in New Orleans when her father has to travel to China on business. Rebecca would much rather have gone to China than to New Orleans, where she lives in a rundown home across the street from a cemetery in the French Quarter and goes to Temple Mead Academy, a snooty private school for girls.
Then, one night, she follows the snootiest of the girls into Lafayette Cemetery. While there, Rebecca meets another teenager, a black girl named Lisette. At first, Rebecca thinks that Lisette was made homeless by Hurricane Katrina and has been living in the cemetery, but it doesn't take too long for her to figure out that she was wrong. Lisette lives in the cemetery, because she was entombed there. Lisette is a ghost.
Rebecca gets drawn into the story of Lisette's murder and the curse placed on the family of the queen bee of Temple Mead Academy by Lisette's mother. The tale is that the curse will be broken in this generation, but is there really a curse? And what will it take to break it?
This is a fantastic spooky, atmospheric tale of the supernatural. In one of my favorite passages, Rebecca accompanies Lisette on her annual trip from the cemetery to her home in the Tremé neighborhood, and Rebecca gets to see some of the ghosts that fill the city.
I loved this book. There are, however, one continuity error and a couple of head-scratching moments about the conclusion, though, which I'll detail in a spoiler-tagged comment.