Conversations with the Dead

Some people still have an awful lot to say after they die ...

Harper Sinclair is a smart, observant kid. She lives in Cape Winter, a small coastal town on Long Island, New York. Her favorite subject in school is history, and she loves reading, learning, and doing research. She knows there are kids that call her a nerd because of this, but that doesn’t bother her. She lives in a house full of books, the two women in her life are excellent cooks, she has amazing best friends, and she gets along with her older brother, Huck. Her life is great. Besides, is being a nerd such a bad thing?

Both Harper’s mom, Scarlett and her grandmother, Natty, entertain her with stories about their lives and the history of their family. She loves listening to them, loves putting the pieces of her story together. The problem is, as time goes on, it becomes apparent to Harper that her puzzle is missing some significant pieces. Why do they both get sad and despondent during the third week of July? Why are they both so good at changing the subject when Harper asks certain questions? And why can’t anyone see the old mailbox her mom slips letters into but her? She allows her imagination to fill in some of the blanks, incorporating such things as pirates, the Italian Mafia and a super-secret spy into the timeline she’s building for her family.

When Natty dies, Harper’s world falls apart around her. Then she and Huck stumble over another revelation, and when Scarlett comes clean, the pieces Harper was missing finally fall into place. She’s learned so much and she’s overwhelmed. All she wants to do is talk to Natty again. That’s when Scarlett shares one last secret with her, and this one really changes the way Harper sees her world ...