The Spirit of Cattail County by Victoria Piontek (review)

When Sparrow's mama dies, Sparrow is left in the care of crotchety Auntie Geraldine, who plans to sell Sparrow's beloved house in the Florida marsh. Leaving home will also mean leaving the Boy, the silent ghost who has been Sparrow's constant companion throughout her life. At her mother's funeral, however, Sparrow gains a few living friends when she intervenes in a kid rivalry between the two most prominent families in town. Maeve and Johnny Casto soon become convinced that their uncle Mason is Sparrow's father, and they are happy to accept her into their clan. Sparrow is tentatively excited too, but she is more interested in learning from a child psychic, Elena, how to get her mother to become her spirit companion like the Boy. Sparrow's desire for a family that loves her is answered in an unexpected way when she discovers who the Boy is, who her father isn't, and what she and Geraldine share. The swamp provides an atmospheric backdrop to this tale, set in the pre-internet era, that combines domestic mystery with the history of the Orphan Trains and lingering class prejudices. Pacing starts off a bit slow in but picks up as quiet Sparrow becomes more social and begins to show a bit of sass and spunk. There's quite a bit of middle-grade genre familiarity here in the character types, plot points, and small details, but the elements are arranged in an innovative way, producing a story that offers originality while settling into a comforting groove.