Teaser Tuesday: In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters {19}

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Title: In the Shadow of Blackbirds
Author: Cat Winters
Release date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Amulet
Pages: 400

In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.

My teaser, from page 117 in the ARC:

I sat upright and looked again at the compass. My mouth fell open. A shivery chill breezed down my spine.

The needle had stopped following me. For twenty-two more second, the little metal arrow directed itself with steadfast attention toward two objects across the room--two objects related to the person who had just dominated my thoughts.

The needle pointed to Stephen's photographs.