Harvest House

Deftly leading readers to the literary crossroads of contemporary realism and haunting mystery, Cynthia Leitich Smith revisits the world of her American Indian Youth Literature Award winner Hearts Unbroken.

Halloween is near, and Hughie Wolfe is volunteering at a new rural attraction: Harvest House. He's excited to take part in the fun, spooky show—until he learns that an actor playing the vengeful spirit of an "Indian maiden," a ghost inspired by local legend, will headline.

Folklore aside, unusual things have been happening at night at the crossroads near Harvest House. A creepy man is stalking teenage girls and young women, particularly Indigenous women; dogs are fretful and on edge; and wild animals are behaving strangely. While Hughie weighs how and when to speak up about the bigoted legend, he and his friends begin to investigate the crossroads and whether it might be haunted after all.

As Moon rises on All Hallow's Eve, will they be able to protect themselves and their community?

About the Author

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Hearts Unbroken, the Tantalize series, and the Feral trilogy. An NSK Neustadt Laureate and the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books, she was named the inaugural Katherine Paterson Chair on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. A citizen of the Muscogee Nation, Cynthia Leitich Smith lives in Austin, Texas.

Reviews

"Superbly highlights and discusses key topics facing contemporary Indigenous youths, including redface and the plights of missing and murdered Indigenous women and two-spirit people. Hughie's encounters with different types of racism are recognizably authentic, handled with delicacy and distinct realism.... An atmospheric novel compellingly interweaving chills and contemporary themes." —Kirkus Reviews

"The spirit of a young indigenous woman is rumored to haunt a crossroads, and who she was and what happened to her – and how the raw injustice of the past can leach its poison into the present – are at the heart of this well-crafted mystery from Cynthia Leitich Smith, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books." —The Buffalo News

"Cynthia Leitich Smith has written a bunch of books across children's and young adult, both fantasy and contemporary fiction about Indigenous characters. Harvest House is her first foray into ghosts and murder mysteries, and it did not disappoint. It's charming and chilling, a story about a haunted crossroads, racist violence perpetrated on Native people, and a group of teens trying to figure out how to get justice in a world designed to sideline them. I hadn't expected a premise like this from Smith, but she absolutely nailed it." —Tor.com

"Part coming-of-age tale, part social justice story, and part paranormal thriller.... Smith knows what appeals to teens and what makes them tick, and so includes plenty of current teen slang and occasional curse words to keep this story relevant and engaging for them. This is one heckuva roller coaster ride that ratchets up the tension the closer the story comes to Halloween." —School Library Connection (starred review)

Dimensions: 13.34 x 2.13 x 20.96 cm