An Absorbing YA Urban Fantasy
“The story starts with a compelling premise: « I’d seen disembodied spirits before but never like those. » The reader is hooked and keeps turning every page to discover what these spirits look like and what happens next to Ethan and his companions. The first-person narrative voice is impeccably delivered and absorbing and readers are irresistibly pulled into the worldview of the narrator. The translation from French is fluid and the prose is delectable in itself.”
Supernatural Shadings makes a superb novella! – by Grady Harp on Amazon Australia
« Writing in a style that captivates the Young Adult audience, the story opens with insights into the primary character, Ethan: ‘I still have nightmares about the events that took place in that abandoned country school near Spiritwood. I’d seen disembodied spirits but never like those. My name is Ethan, and I’m seventeen years old. I’ve decided to write about what I went through earlier this year because, according to my mom, who’s a psychologist, it should do me good…’ That degree of immediacy pervades this fine novel, locking in the readers’ attention and holding it until the final page. (…) Intensely visual and artistically compelling, this is terse, superb thriller by an author who clearly relates to her audience. Very highly recommended on many levels. »
By Anthony Avina
« Entertaining, thrilling, and captivating, author Martine Noël-Maw’s “The Ghosts of Spiritwood” is a must-read YA paranormal thriller. The twists and turns in the narrative and the emotional finale of these teens and their adventure with the dead will not only stay with the reader long after the book is finished but will leave readers eager for more from the author in what could be a series of narratives exploring the paranormal. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today! »
Rating: 10/10
An article in Books & Buzz Magazine where I discuss how I wrote The Ghosts of Spiritwood.
Thanks ManyBooks! I loved answering your questions.
The first English edition of the popular young adult novel Les fantômes de Spiritwood, originally published in French by Éditions de la nouvelle plume, translated by the author
One summer night, Ethan and four friends are heading north of Spiritwood, Saskatchewan, for a weekend of camping to watch the northern lights, but their car swerves off the road and ends up in the ditch. The teenagers head back to Spiritwood on foot, but a severe thunderstorm strikes before they reach the town, forcing them to break into an abandoned country school to take shelter. After exchanging scary stories for a while, they fall asleep. When they wake, the storm is over and the sky is filled with bright-coloured northern lights.
Ethan recounts the legend of the northern lights. « Those lights are produced by the spirits of the departed. It’s a sign that they want to communicate with the living. To establish contact, we just have to whistle at them. » Then, Ethan produces a spirit whistle that he had bought at Wanuskewin, and he starts to whistle at the sky.
Moments later, weird things begin to happen…
Shadowpaw Press Reprise, Mach 2023
98 pages
ISBN 978-1-989398-62-3
Paper $17.99
ePub $5.99
Order on amazon.ca or Shadowpaw Press
Martine Noël-Maw 