Books with title Forest of the Shadows

As he stood outside the door contemplating who could be in the room, he heard slow rattling breath sucking in the air around, then dispelling it with a slight whistle. He wasn’t sure what would be found on the other side. Curiosity gave way to apprehension as Trace imagined someone breaking into his home and hurting his family. Possibly, all that separated them from danger was the guest room’s closed door. His heart thumped wildly in his chest. He felt his hands becoming cold and clammy. Wishing he had thought to bring something to defend himself, but not wanting to go back and give the intruder time to reach his family, he carefully reached for the door knob, a slight pounding beginning to echo in his ear. Ever so slowly he turned the knob, pushing against the door with his shoulder. Placing one hesitant foot forward, he began to step through the doorway. The breathing was louder now. Whatever was making those sounds would be revealed in just a moment. For Ages 12 and Up

Ro thinks her family is totally unlike anyone else's. Jodie is afraid of herself. So they spend a long time stepping carefully around the truth, hiding secrets that they know are too terrible to reveal.These shadows from the past just won't go away, and in a hostile society Ro and Jodie end up with only each other -- and that grab bag of feelings that make up a friendship: love, hate, guilt -- and forgiveness.

Newbery Medalist Avi weaves one of his most suspenseful and scary tales—about a ghost who has to be seen to be believed and must be kept from carrying out a horrifying revenge. The time is 1872. The place is New York City. Horace Carpetine has been raised to believe in science and rationality. So as apprentice to Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer, he thinks of his trade as a scientific art. But when wealthy society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht orders a photographic portrait, strange things begin to happen. Horace's first real photographs reveal a frightful likeness: it's the image of the Von Machts' dead daughter, Eleanora. Pegg, the Von Machts' black servant girl, then leads him to the truth about who Eleanora really was and how she actually died. Joined in friendship, Pegg and Horace soon realize that his photographs are evoking both Eleanora's image and her ghost. Eleanora returns, a vengeful wraith intent on punishing those who abused her. Rich in detail, full of the magic of early photography, here is a story about the shadows, visible and invisible, that are always lurking near.

In this survival story set in a cave, our main characters use science to solve problems and settle debates on how best to survive tricky situations. Page spreads include suitable experiments that linked to the narrative. Predicting outcomes is the nature of science and in these books readers must think critically and are offered explanations of the scienctific principles at play. This is STEAM teaching in a great format.

Deep in the woods, a child with green-tinged skin and long matted hair awakens. She is Isabella Leland, daughter of a healer who was executed as a heretic some 300 years earlier. On her mother's death, Isabella was taken in by the crow people---faierie folk---who can manipulate space and time. The first time she returned to the real world, Catholics ruled England. Now, those who follow the pope are regarded with suspicion and shunned. When Isabella emerges from her hiding place, she's discovered by another outcast, Elizabeth Dyer, whose family follows the old ways. Elizabeth wants to befriend Isabella, but she has her own troubles. Her brother has brought home a priest in need of shelter. Hiding him is an act of treason, and his pursuers are closing in. Sarah Singleton has a gift for blending the seen and the unseen, the matter-of-fact and the magical, into a convincing whole. Here she offers a fast-paced plot---a cat-and-mouse game between hunter and hunted---while exploring questions about religious faith and fanaticism that will resonate with YA readers.

After her mother's sudden death, Ro now lives with her mother's partner Deb. Ro is convinced that her family is unlike anyone else's and is determined that no one at her new school will get close enough to find out. Then Jodie arrives, with a secret of her own. The two girls are drawn together, but when Jodie's feelings for Ro start to tip into something different, the rules of friendship are stretched to the limit.