Spotlighting Saundra Mitchell's SHADOWED SUMMER

I finally get to spotlight Saundra Mitchell's SHADOWED SUMMER! I read this in ARC form some time back and was completely transported back to a time in my life when I devoured ghost stories like I now devour anything that starts or ends with "cream" (ice cream, cream puffs, cream sauce, clotted cream...)

Ahem. Anyway, this book is a must read for anyone who enjoys a great ghost story set in surroundings you can feel and smell and almost touch. It is juicy and ache-y and lovely.

Saundra, herself, is a a screenwriter and author who penned the screenplays for the Fresh Films and Girls in the Director's Chair short film series. Her short story "Ready to Wear" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her first feature film, Revenge Ends, debuted on the festival circuit in 2008. In her free time, she enjoys ghost hunting, papermaking, and spending time with her husband and her two children.

Here is a little about SHADOWED SUMMER: Nothing ever happened in Ondine, Louisiana, not even the summer Elijah Landry disappeared. His mother knew he ascended to heaven, the police believed he ran away, and his girlfriend thought he was murdered.

Decades later, certain she saw his ghost in the town cemetery, fourteen-year-old Iris Rhame is determined to find out the truth behind "The Incident With the Landry Boy."

Enlisting the help of her best friend Collette, and forced to endure the company of Collette's latest crush, Ben, Iris spends a summer digging into the past and stirring old ghosts, in search of a boy she never knew.

What she doesn't realize is that in a town as small as Ondine, every secret is a family secret.

NM: So, Saundra, how old is your protagonist/s?

SM: They're all fourteen or thereabouts.

NM: Interesting age. What is the single, most important bit of advice you'd give to the You that was the same age as your protagonist/s?

SM: Just because somebody asks you to do something doesn't mean you're obligated to do it.

NM: Wow, totally sage words of wisdom. Now, complete the following sentences:

Everyone should definitely, for sure _____________.

You should NEVER, EVER ___________. But if you absolutely must, make sure to ____________.

SM: Everyone should definitely, for sure go to college.

You should NEVER, EVER microwave tinfoil. But if you absolutely must, make sure to take pictures, because it looks really cool.

LOL. I've done that! Thanks, Saundra!

Click here to purchase a copy of SHADOWED SUMMER; and click here to find out more about Saundra Mitchell and what she's up to.