Ghostly Pick: Unbroken (Ruined series)

Unbroken (A Ruined Novel, book 3)
by Paula Morris
Scholastic
2012
291 pages

Spooky and satisfying, Unbroken takes the reader back to New Orleans and the French Quarter. Rebecca Brown is seeing ghosts again; one in particular—a handsome young boy with startling blue eyes. He asks for her help in finding a lost locket entrusted to him by painter Edgar Degas.

Frank worked the docks in both New York and New Orleans. He was on his way to deliver the locket to artist Edgar Degas’s cousin’s home in the Quarter when he was murdered. As a ghost, Frank can’t pick up or deliver things—he needs a human to intervene on his behalf. When he sees Rebecca walking with Lisette—a ghost she helped last year—he knows that Rebecca can see ghosts and will likely help him.

Rebecca arrives in New Orleans with her friend Ling and her father—who is in the city for work. She can’t wait to see Anton—a boy she was crushing on. The fact is—he can’t wait to see her either. He tells her that Toby may be in town and will probably cause trouble for them.

As Rebecca gets closer to finding the locket, Toby closes in on her. Ghosts are popping up everywhere, some friendly like Frank and others not so friendly at all.

Morris paints a picture of New Orleans with its moss hung trees, lively jazz bands, raucous street festivals, the din and clamor of the Quarter, and its ghostly architecture and lonely graveyards with family mausoleums and statues of saints and angels. Publishers Weekly raves, “A haunting love letter to New Orleans.”

Highly, highly recommended grade 7-up. Anyone who loves a ghost story will love the Ruined series.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

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