The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney
by Suzanne Harper
368 pages
Middle School+

Sparrow Delaney comes from a family of mediums, people able to see or otherwise communicate with ghosts of those departed.  Not only that, but she is also the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, destined to have strong psychic abilities. Her entire family (6 sisters, mother and grandmother) are anxiously awaiting the day she first communes with the spirits.

But she wants NOTHING to do with ghosts. Ever since she was 5 years old, she has seen them.  She can talk to them, see them and even smell them.  But she does NOT want to be known as a psychic.  She only wants to be a normal teen, have normal friends and be accepted by the rest of the world.  If she sees a ghost, she has perfected the art of ignoring them until they go away. She even jumped at the chance to go to a normal school instead of the local one with all the psychic kids.

First day at the new school, Sparrow feels like things are going well.  She's made a new friend, found her locker without any issue and is even one time to classes.  There is even a cute boy, Jack, in her history class.  But a really annoying kid is sitting behind Jack, flicking his ear.  Why isn't the teacher stopping it?  Then the annoying kid winks at Sparrow and disappears.  It had been a ghost!

Sparrow is caught up in the mystery of this ghost, Luke, and what happened to him.  When she gets assigned a project with Jack, it gives her a chance to investigate what happened to Luke, how they are connected and how she can help.  But is Sparrow brave enough to acknowledge her powers?

I really enjoyed reading this book a lot!  Yes it is a ghost story, but Sparrow goes through a lot of growth and self discovery through the course of the book.  The book is really about her learning to accept herself, her abilities and learn not to fear or mistrust them.

I would recommend this to mostly girls, but occasionally boys.  Good book, even if it's not spectacular.  Humorous moments, lots of irony, and overall, fun to read.  No inappropriate language or anything else.  Pretty good book!