Cooper is angry. His dad left the family three years ago; since then, he has emotionally isolated himself from his mom and younger sister, Jess, who holds out hope that their dad will contact them. But one day Jess comes to him with a mystery: She’s found an article about the 1928 Charfield railway disaster that left an unidentified victim, a young boy. On his jacket was a crest—the same one that’s on the jacket of Elena, the new girl next door who has a habit of silently watching Cooper from her front yard. A conversation with the tight-lipped Elena yields no information about this coincidence. Neither does a Google search, although the siblings discover two more historical disasters, each with a victim whose clothing bore the same crest. Even more alarming, Cooper, Jess, and their new friend Gus are the only people who can see Elena. Have they been earmarked as victims in an upcoming deadly disaster? As the three attempt to solve the mystery and strategically outwit what they suspect is their fate, sibling relationships and friendships mend, grow, and become much-needed sources of support. Jess’s type 1 diabetes is essential to her character, if not the plot, of this riveting supernatural mystery featuring characters who present as white and firmly grounded in an honest depiction of the trauma of parental abandonment and the healing power of being seen, validated, and loved. (Ages 9-13)

A dark, twisty adventure about the forgotten among us and what it means to be seen, from the acclaimed author of The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly.

Cooper is lost. Ever since his father left their family three years ago, he has become distant from his friends, constantly annoyed by his little sister, Jess, and completely fed up with the pale, creepy rich girl who moved in next door and won’t stop staring at him. So when Cooper learns of an unsolved mystery his sister has discovered online, he welcomes the distraction.

It’s the tale of a deadly train crash that occurred a hundred years ago, in which one young boy among the dead was never identified. The only distinguishing mark on him was a strange insignia on his suit coat, a symbol no one had seen before or since. Jess is fascinated by the mystery of the unknown child— because she’s seen the insignia. It’s the symbol of the jacket of the girl next door.

As they uncover more information— and mounting evidence of the girl’s seemingly impossible connection to the tragedy—Cooper and Jess begin to wonder if a similar disaster could be heading to their hometown.