Armstrong, Kelley. The Summoning. New York: HarperCollins, 2008. 390 pp. ISBN: 9780061662690
Book covers courtesy of GoodReads.com
Annotation:
When Chloe Sanders starts seeing ghosts, it surprises her so much that her reaction gets her moved into a home for disturbed children. Facing a diagnosis of schizophrenia and trying hard to get better, she still starts to wonder just what is going on and whether all this paranormal activity might not just be in her head.
Booktalk:
Seriously. If you woke up one day and started seeing ghosts everywhere, what would you do? Realize one of those ghosts is a burned-up-looking, melted-faced-having, creepy janitor, chasing you through the halls of your high school yelling, “Come here. I just want to talk to you.”
You’d do what Chloe Sanders did. You’d freak out. And maybe you’d go so far as to punch some teacher, make a complete spectacle of yourself, and get yourself locked up in a home for mentally disturbed children.
Chloe is a huge film geek who sees everything that happens to her in terms of a camera angles and cutaways. Now, she’s landed in some kind of horror flick where she’s surrounded by crazy kids and – worse – is being told she’s schizophrenic herself. She’s even willing to believe it, for a while. Then she starts to get to know the other kids in the house – handsome Simon, weirdly strong Derek, angry Tori, firebug Rae, and Liz, who is sent away still insisting it was a poltergeist and not her that attacked their teacher.
Chloe starts question everything she thought was true. Is she schizophrenic? Are the other kids really crazy? Or can she actually see ghosts? And, if so, what else does she have in common with the other inmates at the Lyle House?
Wait! There’s More:
This is just book 1 of the Darkest Powers series, which continues in The Awakening (2009) and The Reckoning (2010).
(Wordle created by Sonja Somerville at wordle.com)
Awards/Honors (source: http://www.harperteen.com/books/The-Summoning-Kelley-Armstrong/?isbn=9780061450549):
- Texas Library Association Tayshas High School Reading List
