Do you know what it feels like to be forgotten?
On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris carefully makes a perfect snow angel -- only to find the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore, right beneath her.
Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...
Obsessed with figuring out what's going on, Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life -- and in death. As Iris and Daniel learn more about their town's past, they become determined to restore Avery's grave and finally have proper respect paid to Avery and the others buried there.
But they have awakened a jealous and demanding ghost, one that's not satisfied with their plans for getting recognition. One that is searching for a best friend forever -- no matter what the cost.
The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery.
India Hill Brown is a southern belle who recently moved back down south to North Carolina after living in NYC and working at HBO. She is the author of the critically acclaimed middle grade novel The Forgotten Girl and she's also written for Teen Vogue, Essence, Sesi Mag, and The Everygirl. Visit her at booksandbighair.com or on Twitter at @booksandbighair.
- Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (September 7, 2021)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 272 pages
- ISBN-10: 1338317253
- ISBN-13: 9781338317251
- Reading age: 8 - 12 years
- Grade level: 3 - 7
- Item Weight: 6.2 ounces
- Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches