This trade paperback is one of 26 books which arrived in a Nordstrom bag in July, 2020, as an anonymous donation to the Little Free Library of Twinbrook (#7720). Thank you so much!

My husband started reading this book today. He already told me about parts of it. It sure does sound interesting!

My husband said this story was interesting in the end.

I'm releasing this book for...

***The September 2021 You're Such an Animal Release Challenge hosted by awaywithfairies. The book title contains the words SHAD, BIRDS, and BLACKBIRDS.

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Enjoy the book!

I selected this book from the Little Free Library of Twinbrook (#7720) to travel elsewhere...

I'm releasing this book for the BCinDC "First Line Game" at the 2021 annual holiday party which will take place on Zoom..

The first line of this book is...
I stepped inside the railroad car, and three dozen pairs of eyes peered my way.

The only thing missing now is knowing who the recipient of this book will be. :D

ETA: This book went to SqnutZips.

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Now that you've "caught" this book, it is yours to do with as you like. Read it, keep it, or give it away. It's your choice!

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Enjoy the book!

I picked this book from the BCinDC 1st line Holiday Party game 2021 which was held on Zoom again due to the pandemic. Thanks SqueakyChu.

The first line of this book is...
I stepped inside the railroad car, and three dozen pairs of eyes peered my way.

To the person who finds this book.....
Keep it or release it, read it or not, but please make a journal entry to let me know it's been found. Keep it, pass it on to a friend or release it into the wild.... let the journey continue.....

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This was leftover at the end of the 2022 Gaithersburg Book Festival. It looks interesting so it's going on my TBR pile for now. Thanks!

It's 1918, both WWI and the influenza outbreak are at their peak, and 16-year-old Mary Shelley Black is fleeing to California to live with her aunt after her father is arrested on vague charges of what might be anti-American sentiment. (His story was never covered in much detail.) Her childhood-friend-turned-true-love (who coincidentally lives in the same town as her aunt) has gone to France to fight in the war; meanwhile, his older brother is cashing in on the current spiritualism craze by offering to take "spirit photos" for grieving families of the many casualties, both of the war and the flu. (Quick note: this book was published in 2014, so its setting during the 1918 flu pandemic is completely unrelated to the 2020 covid pandemic. This seems trivial but I don't think I would have wanted to read something that intentionally draws parallels between the two. Not just yet, at any rate.)

Let's start with what I liked about this book. I liked the historical details, like all the disgusting flu preventions/remedies (why were they so obsessed with onions?), and the spooky ghost stuff. I liked that Mary Shelley is clever but it's not her One Defining Feature (a common problem in YA fiction). I liked her secretly boy-crazy aunt and the reminder that being the sibling of one's parents does not automatically make them "old." And in general, I really felt immersed in the atmosphere - I could hear the sounds and smell the odors and all of that.

There were a couple things that really bothered me, though. First of all, Mary Shelley Black was named after the author of Frankenstein, which is fine except that her interest in electricity is mentioned more than once. Which tells me that the author never read the original novel, because Shelley was purposefully vague on how the Monster is brought to life; the electricity aspect wasn't even introduced until the 1931 film.

The other thing that bugged me was the inconsistent stance on spiritualism in general. Spirit photos are fakes unless they aren't. A character's sudden ability to smell emotion is never elaborated on. Hauntings don't happen except when they do. This story seems to want to be both skeptical and a believer at the same time, which makes things a little muddy. Enough details are left hanging that I wonder if the author had plans for a sequel.

All that said, I actually really enjoyed reading this, despite its little annoyances. I liked the writing style quite a bit, and I blew through it in only a few days. And as this was Winters's first novel, I think I'll reserve judgement until I've read some of her later works.

Hi Melydia
Thanks for journaling this book.
I really wanted to read this book but my TBR pile is too high and too many years old as it is. The fact that the book was set 1918 during the "Spanish" flu pandemic was of great interest to me.
Since the beginning of the CV19 pandemic in the late 2019 early 2020's I have read so many books re: various pandemics, fiction and non-fiction, that I was all pandemic'ed-out. I also love the title and the author's name. Thanks for the journal entry and review. I'm glad U enjoyed the book. 🐿

Brought home from the BCinDC meetup. It looks interesting and was thought to be a "me" book given my penchant for YA reads. The creepy ghosty factor further adds to that. Looking forward to it! :-)

I am really glad this one was pushed my way at the meetup. I really enjoyed reading it and will be happy to continue sharing it with others. I read it very quickly. I found the story compelling and the characters very well drawn. A great YA mystery read.

Bringing back to the BCinDC meetup to see if any other YA fans haven't read yet. Will happily bring back to put in my library if there are no takers.

Picked up at today's BCinDC gathering. Brihaji brought it up because I like YA. Initially I wasn't sure since historical fiction is a toss-up for me, but it turns out that this was already on my TBR, so I grabbed it. I'll probably pass it along to my friends once I read it.