Shade

Synopsis

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan’s band playing a crucial gig and Aura’s plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend’s life. She never thought it would be his last.
Logan’s sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He’s gone.
Well, sort of.
Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and talk to ghosts. This mysterious ability had always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because Dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn’t help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding — and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.
As Aura’s relationship with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura’s heart . . . and clues to the secret of the Shift.

Publishers Weekly

Sixteen-year-old Aura, the first child born after the “Shift,” is in the vanguard of a change in human perception. Ghosts are now visible, everyday creatures, but perceptible only to those born after the Shift, creating a subtly delineated schism between generations. What the Shift was and why it occurred are still mysteries—very personal ones for unwilling pioneers like Aura. The uncomfortable questions turn excruciating when her boyfriend, Logan, dies of an accidental overdose. His ghost can give Aura some comfort, but it can’t touch her or interact with the world the way the living Logan could—or the way a charming Scottish transfer student, Zachary, can. Though adult author Smith-Ready’s occasionally racy YA debut resolves almost none of the issues surrounding the Shift, leaving the door open for future books, it is a fully satisfying read on its own, with well-developed, believable characters. Aura’s grief, Logan’s rage, and Zachary’s wistfulness are expertly sketched. Perhaps even more impressive is the understatement of the paranormal premise—Smith-Ready changes the world completely by simply changing our ability to see. Ages 14-up. (May)