About This Book
Reach for this book when your middle schooler is navigating the complex silence that often follows family trauma, such as the loss of a parent or the fractured reality of a difficult divorce. Set against a moody Welsh backdrop, the story follows fourteen-year-old Cristyn as she spends the summer in an ancient stone house. While her father, a medieval studies professor, avoids discussing her late mother, Cristyn finds herself drawn into a 16th-century mystery involving a young ghost searching for a lost treasure. Through this parallel haunting, the book explores how suppressed grief can linger like a spirit. This is an ideal choice for parents looking to validate a child's curiosity about their own family history or for those helping a child process the feeling of being 'stuck' in the past. It offers a sophisticated blend of historical mystery and contemporary realism, showing how different children handle upheaval through rebellion, isolation, or investigation. It is a hopeful, grounded story that encourages open communication and the courage to face painful memories together.
