White Crow - Marcus Sedgwick

Winterfold, England used to be a booming town, but the ocean has swallowed up parts of the town over the years. Rebecca and her father head there for the summer because her father called off a search for a young girl back in Greenwich, and that lead to the girls death. Rebecca explores the village, and encounters Ferelith. Ferelith has grown up in Winterfold, and knows the history of the town. She takes Rebecca to old graveyards, the only church left standing, and a building called the Hall. Back in 1798, a French doctor came to the town and was trying to raise evil spirits to possess people. Ferelith straps Rebecca in the chair where the victims once sat. Rebecca is frightened and scared. After a few hours Ferelith comes back to release her, and Rebecca doesn't want to be friends anymore. Rebecca heads home and realizes that the necklace her father gave her must have fell off in the Hall. She heads back and Ferelith is there waiting for her while a thunderous storm closes in and threatens to take away the Hall.

This book was ok. It left me a bit confused, and unsatisfied as a reader. I did like the journal entries from 1798, which mirrored what was going on with Rebecca coming to town as the new girl. I wish the entries had been incorporated more into the story instead of being just put in between the chapters. The ending and the title of the book left me confused. I think I was expecting more out of the book than what was written.

T.B. 8/16/11