Published synopsis:
When her mother is hospitalized after a mental breakdown, Ashlyn is crushed to have to leave Toronto to go live with her grandmother in Prescott Junction, Maine, where nothing happens. Nothing except for the ghost train that rolls through on the rusted lines on dark nights – the one the townsfolk pretend not to hear as it comes to claim troubled, lost souls. Ashlyn scoffs at the idea ... until she witnesses it herself, with its evil, seductive conductor and the wailing of souls trapped on board. The string of unexplained deaths by the tracks throughout the village's history (Ashlyn's father included, before she was even born) lends credence to the tale. As frightened as she is at the conductor’s pull, more terror awaits when the antique radio in her grandmother’s basement comes to life. Ashlyn’s grandmother tells her the radio is a Caverhill curse, and can’t be destroyed or discarded. It keeps coming back, and it keeps broadcasting "reports" of events yet to happen. Her grandmother begs her to stay away from the radio, but Ashlyn cannot help but listen. And to her horror, it tells her she is bound to board the ghost train. Ashlyn will need the help of her newfound friends – the troubled Rachel and the very sexy Caden – if she is going to get through the coming horrors with her sanity intact and her soul unclaimed.Review:
What could possibly be worse than having your mother have a complete mental breakdown and be institutionalized? Or being forced to leave behind all your friends in Toronto at the beginning of your senior year and move to a Podunk little town in Maine with a grandmother you barely know? Ashlyn Caverhill finds out.Prescott Junction isn’t just a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere. The town is deserted at night, and people do stay in their beds after dark, but sleep is hard to come by when a ghost train intent on stealing souls rumbles through town several nights a week. Add to that an indestructible radio that only Ashlyn’s family can hear – it predicts the future, but only the sad and tragic future – and suddenly, Prescott Junction is far from a boring little town. Unless a seductive, skeletal ghost train conductor can be considered boring.
Ashlyn is thrown into a situation where she may be the town’s only hope. As if that isn’t enough, her new best friend, Rachel, believes that she is next to board the train. Abused, lonely and self-destructive, Rachel believes it may be her only chance to escape the hell she lives in. Caden, Ashlyn’s sexy new boyfriend, cares about them both and will do whatever he can to keep them safe.
Ashlyn’s Radio by Norah Wilson and Heather Doherty, is a unique look at curses, the supernatural and real life issues such as abuse. The characters in the book face not just a ghost train and a doomsday warning radio, they also have to face the real life issues of prejudice, depression, fear, physical and emotional abuse, and falling in love. Wilson and Doherty do an excellent job addressing all of the above. With the exception of being too blasé in the beginning of the book about the idea of cutting to deal with anger, depression and pain, I believe they did a good job of getting into the teenage mind. I was happy to read that the act of cutting is taken more seriously later in the book. Speaking as an adult, the abuse issues were also hard to read without wanting to shake the characters and want them to do something about it, to stop it. But, in situations like that, most teenagers don’t have the slightest idea what to do when a friend is in this kind of trouble. That’s not a problem with the book. Ashlyn’s Radio simply points out a societal squeamishness to address the problem head on, leaving children at a loss as to how to help or get help.
Overall, Ashlyn’s radio is a wonderful read with just enough eeriness to keep it interesting, and enough memorable characters to make it lovable. Though the issues in the book could have made this book a sad journey, Wilson and Doherty were able to keep it a light, entertaining read while still getting their points across. I thank the authors for a review copy and I give the book 4 ½ stars.
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