Tell the Ghosts I'm Gone by Kalynn Bayron (Sleep Like Death) is a tense and energizing YA paranormal horror mystery that follows four teens who use their superpowers to uncover dangerous secrets.
Sixteen-year-old Moll's misfit friends are all fostered by Moll's magic-working mother, Hannigan, in Portland, Ore. The Black teens are "not related by blood," but "something much stronger": each, like Hannigan, has a supernatural ability. Moll can read and manipulate people's emotions; Redd, 17, can influence thoughts; Agnes, 18, is psychic; and Ossie, 13, can command rats. The four teens want to use their powers to investigate hauntings and help people with paranormal problems, hoping that one day they "won't have to harbor [their] abilities like some terrible secret." They develop a website, The Oculus, to find cases. While their first mission is successful, their next is unnerving. The owner of Alister's, a coffee shop run out of a Victorian mansion, claims that customers often get lost inside the home and a young woman recently disappeared. The teens' investigation reveals deadly mysteries, occult legacies, and more about their own mysterious powers.
Bayron develops a compellingly eerie mystery about Black teens, some of whom are queer, as they explore their identities, superpowers, and painful pasts while developing a deep sense of belonging. Through Moll's first-person perspective, Bayron builds a powerful friendship and complex family dynamic while also referencing spiritualism and paranormal history. Tell the Ghosts I'm Gone highlights how being "gifted" can feel both empowering and isolating and creates emotional moments that are just as captivating as the scary ones. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer