The List of Unspeakable Fears by J. Kasper Kramer

 

Expected publication: September 14th 2021 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers 

• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7

The War That Saved My Life meets Coraline in this chilling middle grade historical novel from the author of the acclaimed The Story That Cannot Be Told following an anxious young girl learning to face her fears—and her ghosts—against the backdrop of the typhoid epidemic.

Essie O’Neill is afraid of everything. She’s afraid of cats and electric lights. She’s afraid of the silver sick bell, a family heirloom that brings up frightening memories. Most of all, she’s afraid of the red door in her nightmares.

But soon Essie discovers so much more to fear. Her mother has remarried, and they must move from their dilapidated tenement in the Bronx to North Brother Island, a dreary place in the East River. That’s where Essie’s new stepfather runs a quarantine hospital for the incurable sick, including the infamous Typhoid Mary. Essie knows the island is plagued with tragedy. Years ago, she watched in horror as the ship General Slocum caught fire and sank near its shores, plummeting one thousand women and children to their deaths.

Now, something on the island is haunting Essie. And the red door from her dreams has become a reality, just down the hall from her bedroom in her terrifying new house. Convinced her stepfather is up to no good, Essie investigates. Yet to uncover the truth, she will have to face her own painful history—and what lies behind the red door.

Life as Essie knows it, in the cramped tenements of NYC is drastically changed when her mother announces that she has married  a man that Essie has never even heard her mention before. As if that isn't enough to induce a panic attack she is also told she will have to pack her things, leaving her friends and her school behind to go live on an island where people with dangerously contagious illnesses are sent to quarantine. In fact she may even meet the dreaded Typhoid Mary.

Essie is still grieving for her father and suffering the trauma of his death when she meets her new step father, an imposing figure with strange mannerisms who she begins to suspect of nefarious deeds. Strange goings on in the night may also mean that she is now living in a haunted house.

Essie was a girl after my own heart, who suffers frequent nightmares and anxiety. 

In an odd coincidence I read this book on the anniversary of the tragedy in Little Germany, an incident that I had never even heard of until I read this book. When it was first mentioned I looked it up, and what I found tells me that what was later explained in the book was factually correct, always an important part of historical fiction for me is accuracy of the time period. This was a well researched work of historical fiction with a bit of spooky suspense and a lesson that without fear there is no such thing as bravery, Essie learns that being afraid is ok but that things almost never turn out as badly as we feared they would. Although this is listed as being for readers in grades 3-7 there is really no reason it can not be enjoyed by older readers.

5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

Available for pre-order

About the author
J. Kasper Kramer is an author and English professor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She has a master's degree in creative writing and once upon a time lived in Japan, where she taught at an international school. When she's not curled up with a book, Kramer loves researching lost fairy tales, playing video games, and fostering kittens.

Website: www.jkasperkramer.com