Book Review-Picture the Dead

By Adele Griffin

Illustrated by Lisa Brown

Published by Source Books

Released on May 6, 2010

4.5 stars- I really liked this book.

A GHOST WILL FIND HIS WAY HOME.

Jennie Lovell's life is the very picture of love and loss. First she is orphaned and forced to live at the mercy of her stingy, indifferent relatives. Then her fiance falls on the battlefield, leaving her heartbroken and alone. Jennifer struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but is haunted by a mysterious figure that refuses to let her bury the past.

When Jennie forms an unlikely alliance with a spirit photographer, she begins to uncover secrets about the man she thought she loved. With her sanity on edge and her life in the balance, can Jennie expose the chilling truth before someone - or something-stops her?

Against the brutal, vivid backdrop of the American Civil War, acclaimed author Adele Griffin and bestselling illustrator Lisa Brown have created a spellbinding mystery where the living cannot always be trusted and death is not always the end. (taken from the back cover)

I absolutely loved that Adele Griffin wove a haunting love story around historical fiction. I am such a sucker for history and really enjoyed this YA paranormal book. It's a haunting read, with a dark and twisty plot that had me devouring the pages. While it's not a shake in the seat of your pants haunting, it's a vivid and real life haunting. I like that through out the book, there are vivid illustrated pages with pictures from Jennie's scrapbook. The illustrations are of pictures, letters and little notes that detail this era perfectly and help Jennie figure out clues to her beloved William's death.

The characters and the setting felt very real to me, as the story takes place during the Civil War. Jennie, and her twin brother Toby have lived with their Aunt, Uncle and cousins in Brookline, MA since her parents died. The Civil War claimed the live of her twin brother Toby and now her cousin/finance William. Broken hearted and shunned from her wealthy relatives, Jennie finds she's neither women of the house, nor slave. She's left to feel invisible.

William's death feels unsettling to Jennie, and someone starts leaving her clues. The more clues Jennie uncovers, the more the hauntings continue. Feeling like she's going mad, she turns to her cousin, William's younger brother Quincy and a spirit photographer, Mr. Geist for answers. Being the only one from the family who survived the Civil War, a severely wounded Quincy returns home with some dark secrets of his own. As Quincy and Jennie become closer, something sinister in the Pritchett household wants Jennie. Before it's too late, she must figure out if it's from among the living or the dead.

You can find out more about Picture The Dead here http://www.picturethedead.com/.