Just South of Home

Starred review from March 1, 2019
Twelve-year-old aspiring astrobiologist Sarah Greene digs into a dark history to help heal her family, both those present and from the past.Sarah's thieving cousin, 11-year-old Janie, a "citified" Chicago native, stays with her family in their small, country town of Warrenville, Georgia, for the summer and continuously uses her "five-finger discount" whenever she wants. When Janie disturbs the town's haints, restless spirits with unresolved business on this spiritual plane, by taking a necklace from the haunted ruins of a black church burned down by the Klan, Sarah must lead her cousin, little brother, Ellis, and their friend Jasper into the woods during the dangerous Witching Hour in order to communicate with and save the souls trapped there. Strong's prose pours from her pen like iced sweet tea on an August afternoon--it's refreshing, steeped in tradition, and mixed with love. Many characters are familiar Southern staples in black communities. Devoted deaconess Mrs. Greene, the children's paternal grandmother, whom they always address formally, with her loose, wavy hair and light skin, leans deep into colorism; her nemesis, Mrs. Whitney, the town conjuring woman, is dark-skinned and always adorned in all white, and she memorializes the victims of lynchings in their county. No punches are pulled when these personalities collide in this sometimes-spooky ode to how an unacknowledged past can come back to haunt us.A stirring Southern middle-grade book that burns brighter than fireworks on the Fourth. (Supernatural adventure. 8-12)

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Starred review from May 1, 2019

Gr 4-7-Sarah firmly believes in science, but when her cousin Janie's pilfering lands them in the middle of their town's greatest mystery and shame, she may start to believe in the otherworldly. Sarah was supposed to spend a quiet summer with her little brother Ellis, but once Janie steals a trinket from the burned-down ruins of Creek Church, they unknowingly disturb the spirits resting there and come to find out more about the town's unsettling racist history. Now they must come together as a family to heal the restless ghosts, called haints, that they have unleashed onto the town. All of the haints who haunt the church are victims of hate crimes, and readers' horror will come more from the atrocities committed against them in this rural Georgia town than from the ghosts themselves. Strong does not gloss over the Ku Klux Klan's presence in the town, nor the lynchings and church burnings they carried out. These topics are addressed boldly but gracefully, acknowledging the pain of the past while using it to drive the plot forward. The pace goes quickly because of an intricate mix of Southern mystery, history, and a ghost story that creeps but doesn't scare; readers don't know which they'll be getting as they turn the page. Strong's prose presents a world so real readers will feel the warm Georgia breeze, or the haints' chilling breath down your neck. VERDICT Readers will need a sweet tea to calm their nerves after this emotional adventure. First purchase for all collections.-Kerri Williams, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2019
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Twelve-year-old Sarah and her kid brother, Ellis, know trouble has arrived in their hometown of Warrenville, Georgia, when their meddlesome 11-year-old cousin with sticky fingers, Janie, comes to stay for the summer. Real trouble inevitably finds them when, against the watchful scrutiny of their grandma (referred to formally as Mrs. Greene), Janie takes a necklace from the haunted, off-limits site of Creek Church, the town's former church that was burned to the ground by the KKK, which reawakens its haints, or restless ghosts. The trio, along with Ellis' friend Jasper and Mrs. Whitney (whom some call a root witch ), understand that in order to free the tormented spirits, they must acknowledge their painful history. Strong packs a lot of heart into this vivid debut about love, family, forgiveness, and the kinds of horrors few can scarcely conceive. Her forthright prose and arresting plot make this an effortless page-turner with just the right amount of chilling descriptions to make you reel at the sight of shadows. While the finely stitched story is worthy of praise, it's the presence of well-rounded grown-ups?often an afterthought in children's literature?that really shines through. Free-flowing dialogue, a rich story line, and warm characters nicely ground the more supernatural elements. This is a must for readers who appreciate a heartfelt mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)