Poltergeeks

Poltergeeks

Sean Cummings

282 pages

Released: October 2, 2012

Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Source: the publisher 

★★★☆☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Fifteen-year-old Julie is a witch, and when she and her friend Marcus witness an elderly lady thrown out of her house by a poltergeist, Julie begins to investigate with Marcus's help.  Soon, the two of them are drawn into an even bigger plot, where Julie's school is under paranormal assault and someone (or, something) has it out for Julie and her mother.  Can she conquer the paranormal before it's too late to save her mother?

I expected lots of action in Poltergeeks based on the description and hoo boy, was I right!  I excepted this to be a fast read considering it's under three hundred pages, but the action in this novel really keeps the pages turning.  While I couldn't read all of it in one sitting because of work obligations (damn you, real life!) I would have if I could have.  The action starts with an old lady and her cat being thrown out of their house by an angry spirit - entertainment and action right from the get-go and it doesn't stop as Julie gets involved, trying to figure out who did this to the old lady and why suddenly something paranormal seems to have it out for her and her mother as well.  

While the issues in Poltergeeks are serious for Julie, her mother is hospitalized and her father has been dead since she was a young girl, there is a whimsical lightness that Sean Cummings has interjected throughout the novel that I really enjoyed.  I don't really know how to describe it, but I'm sure if you pick up Poltergeeks for yourself you'll understand what I'm talking about.  Part of that lightness occurs when it's revealed that Marcus has a thing for Julie, though she's not sure how she feels about Marcus.  What could would a YA paranormal book be without a little romance on side? 

Three stars.  Overall, Poltergeeks is a quick, entertaining novel about the paranormal.  Perfect for this time of the year, Poltergeeksl is sure to delight ghost lovers, young and old.  Strange Chemistry is a new YA imprint of Angry Robots publishing and Poltergeeks is the second book I've read from them (the first was Blackwood) and I'm really looking forward to reading more from them in the future!  If you love the paranormal, give Poltergeeks a look this fall.  As of now, the Kindle and Nook editions are around six dollars - definitely affordable and worth it.