Ellen Poe: The Forgotten Lore
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Apr 7, 2026
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The first book in an exciting YA series about a teen girl, descended from Edgar Allan Poe, who must navigate the haunting legacy of her ancestor while learning to harness her own strength and intelligence, especially as she begins to commune with the dead.
What happens when your tell-tale nightmares turn into reality and the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe won't seem to let you alone? For as long as she can remember, sixteen-year-old Ellen Poe's family has claimed to be long-lost descendants of Edgar Allan Poe. But when she moves in with her aunt in a Poe-themed B&B, the nightmares that have always haunted her begin bleeding into Ellen’s waking hours. When she stumbles upon a journal in the house, none other than Edgar Allan Poe himself begins visiting her. Has the journal somehow released his ghost? And what does he want with Ellen? Through secret messages in his writings, she learns that the two share the same psychic ability to interact with spirits—which is what ultimately drove him mad.
This thrilling series for young adult readers follows Ellen on her quest to learn more about her abilities, the afterlife, and the clues Poe has left for her (ciphers and cryptograms galore), in an effort to not suffer his same fate.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this intriguing ghost novel by Peterfreund (In the Ballroom with the Candlestick), an alleged descendant of Edgar Allan Poe seeks to uncover more about her lineage. Though 16-year-old Ellen Poe Reynolds's family claims to be ancestors of the poet, it's not something that she likes to advertise. Following a move into her family's failing Poe-themed B&B, Raven's Rest, Ellen has been plagued by nightmares, which her aunt claims are visions of various Poe tales. At school, Ellen keeps her head down—until the arrival of new student Gus, who's been haunting her dreams as a ghost. Things get even creepier when she discovers a mysterious coded journal tucked into her backpack and realizes that she's being trailed by a vision of Poe himself. Suspecting that the journal contains the original works by Poe, the teen—aided by Gus as well as cryptic quips from her ancestor—resolves to decode the pages, certain that publicizing the stories could save Raven's Rest from foreclosure. Peterfreund deploys clever puzzles and codes across rapidly paced chapters to relay fascinating insights about the writer's history and individual works. The protagonists read as white. Ages 13–up.
