Spirit's Key
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
By now, twelve-year-old Spirit Holden should have inherited the family gift: the ability to see the future. But when she holds a house key in her hand like her dad does to read its owner's destiny, she can't see anything. Maybe it's because she can't get over the loss of her beloved dog, Sky, who died mysteriously. Sky was Spirit's loyal companion, one of the wild dogs that the local islanders believe possess dangerous spirits. As more dogs start dying and people become sick, too, almost everyone is convinced that these dogs and their spirits are to blame—except for Spirit. Then Sky's ghost appears, and Spirit is shaken. But his help may be the key to unlocking her new power and finding the cause of the mysterious illness before it's too late. Spirit's Key is Edith Cohn's debut novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Spirit Holden and her father have lived on Bald Island for six years; they are still considered "dingbatters," or outsiders, but are tolerated for her father's gift of second sight he can hold a house key and warn of impending disaster. Spirit is in mourning for her beloved Sky, a "baldie" or native dog, who died mysteriously. As Spirit's own latent powers start to manifest, and she's haunted by Sky's ghost, other baldies turn up dead. The islanders consider the dogs "devilish beasts" and see their deaths as the harbinger of disaster, especially when a frightening illness threatens to sweep the island. Spirit suspects more, and when her father falls sick she enlists the help of her neighbor, Nector Hatterask, to find out who is hurting the baldies and save them from extinction. Cohn's debut is lyrical and heartfelt, addressing an insular society's fear of the unknown and how it can be exploited, but the story tangles and slows in its own charming prose and theme of melancholy and loss. Ages 9 12.
