Spirit’s Key by Edith Cohn (review)

Though Spirit has been living on Bald Island for years, she knows that she will never truly fit in with the superstitious locals. She didn’t care much before, because she had her dog, Sky, and her dad, who made his living telling the future. Now, though, Sky has mysteriously died and Spirit’s father is sick and losing his powers, so Spirit knows she has to make alliances with the islanders and figure out why everything is going so wrong. Spirit’s own nascent powers don’t seem much help at first (she can see ghost dogs and smell the future), but they are ultimately exactly what is needed to help her father and to stop the cruel poisonings of the local wild dogs. There is no denying the gravity of the situation in which the whole island finds itself, but there is a thread of hope and determination that will reassure readers even as they fret waiting for resolution. The indomitable Sky, a fiercely loyal doggie companion even as a ghost, is a surprisingly rich character, and his guidance and comforting presence saves Spirit, literally and figuratively, more than once. Fans of Ingrid Law’s quirky and elegant Savvy (BCCB 9/08) will find Spirit is an equally memorable protagonist seeking to turn her untamed powers into a true gift.