Charlotte's Ghosts by L.P. Simone is a thoughtfully crafted novel that deftly weaves the threads of historical fiction, mystery, and supernatural elements. The book opens with the protagonist, C.C. Cross, grappling with the loss of her father, a pivotal event that sets the stage for an intriguing narrative. Simone artfully navigates the dual storylines of C.C. in the present and Jeremy Turner, a boy from the Civil War era, creating a rich tapestry of interconnected lives.

The plot centers on C.C.'s quest to unravel the enigma surrounding a boy who vanished on a Civil War battlefield, a mystery that gradually intertwines her life with Jeremy's. Simone's skillful storytelling oscillates between these two distinct periods, maintaining

A cozy, contemporary, paranormal mystery offers an opportunity for a gentle historical perspective on war and loss in this time-crossed middle grade novel. As an Army kid, 7th grader Charlotte Cross is used to moving, but since her dad died in Afghanistan, she knows this new school in Manassas, Virginia, is more permanent. On a walk past a local Civil War battlefield, her black lab Beau runs toward a strange boy, who soon after disappears. From there, Charlotte's Ghosts plunges into the past. In 1861, Jeremy is left alone on the farm after his father goes north to join the Union Army, but his pacifist Quaker mother won't let Jeremy sign up to fight the rebels like he desperately wants to. While Charlotte navigates grieving by joining the cross-country team and making friends, she also finds some others willing to help her figure out how to help Jeremy's ghost be at peace.

Charlotte's side of this well-constructed story will be instantly relatable for readers, with themes of settling into a new place, and the sadness of losing her father touches without being overly visceral. Jeremy's story will prove less immediately intuitive for young readers, as a Virginian father eager to fight for the North against

Charlotte's Ghosts: The Mystery of the Vanishing Boy is a middle-grade novel by L.P. Simone. Charlotte Cross is grieving inwardly for her father when her mother moves them to Manassas, Virginia. While walking with her dog, Charlotte sees a boy around her age, but as they exchange words, he disappears. In 1861, Jeremy Turner heard about President Lincoln's fight for the abolition of slavery. His father goes off to fight, leaving Jeremy and his mother, while Jeremy hopes to find a way to join him. Charlotte doesn't understand why she sees the mysterious boy or his attraction to her dog, but she vows to help him when she understands they are both missing something dear to them.

Charlotte Cross is trying hard to find her way again after her father was killed in a military incident. She and her mother have moved back to Manassas Virginia where her family had originally come from. The town has a lot of Civil War history, with a large park called the Manassas National Battlefield Park. Charlotte wants to live up to the dream her father had of her running cross country, so she sets up a route through the park to run with her dog. While out running, she sees a mysterious boy who shows up to pet her dog and then suddenly disappears again. Charlotte is curious and wants to figure out what is happening. Flipping back to the past, readers are then introduced to Jeremy Turner, a young boy faced with a country at war and wanting to protect his mother, his dog, and the family farm.

Charlotte's Ghosts: The Mystery of the Vanishing Boy is a compelling tale that intricately weaves together the lives of Charlotte and Jeremy, two characters separated by time but connected by fate as they navigate different challenges.

In modern-day Manassas, Virginia, Charlotte, grieving for her father who passed away in Afghanistan and struggling to adapt to a new home, encounters a mysterious boy named Jeremy who vanishes right before her eyes, leaving her unsettled. Simultaneously, in 1861 Virginia, Jeremy faces the turbulence of the Civil War, torn between family responsibilities and his desire to join the Union Army to fight against slavery. Meanwhile, Charlotte develops new friendships and embarks on a quest to uncover the mystery surrounding Jeremy's sudden disappearance.

The world seems to be on the brink of destruction, as the Maya people might have predicted, and its fate might just rest on the shoulders of a single teenage boy in Simone's debut young-adult thriller.

As far as Cory McClintock knows, he's a normal kid. The only thing distinguishing him is that, when he was a baby, his father adopted him from a Maya woman who had begged him to take care of her son. One day, when Cory arrives home from school, he discovers his dad unconscious and bleeding; Cory is immediately kidnapped at gunpoint by Culebra, a man claiming to be his uncle, who takes him to Guatemala. According to