Texas Gothic

Texas Gothic
By Rosemary Clement-Moore
Delacorte Press, 2011. 406 pgs. Teen fiction

Amy Goodnight has always tried to hide the fact that her family has magical abilities, something that isn't easy to do when all the rest of them seem content to tell the whole world exactly what they can do. However, when Amy and her sister Phin are house-sitting for their aunt, things start spiraling out of control, and Amy can't stay away from the magic. First, handsome, irritating, incredibly frustrating next door neighbor Ben McCulloch, whose ranch is being haunted (at least according to rumors) by a mad monk, blames Amy and her family for causing the rumors and all the trouble that comes with it. Then Amy finds that there is indeed a ghost (or maybe more than one), since he starts paying her special visits. Even as she's trying to deny what her talents are, people are getting hurt, and Amy can't help but get involved.

This book was fun from start to finish. Amy is one of those kick-butt spunky narrators that I love, Ben is a cute cowboy, and the other quirky supporting characters are amusing. I sometimes got bogged down in Phin's descriptions of the science behind the paranormal, but that's my only quibble with the book. There's some language and some pretty heavy making out.

4 stars.