A spooky middle grade ghost story that reminded me of an updated Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn. I loved the historical aspect and the friendship between Iris and Daniel was so sweet! ( )

Avery Moore died a long time ago, and she did some important and brave things in her short life. But no one seems to remember her, and her grave is lost and forgotten in the woods. Until one night when Iris and her best friend Daniel sneak out at night to play in the first snow of the season. The Forgotten Girl is definitely a ghost story, with a lot of history included about racism, segregation, and African American cemeteries that were lost and forgotten. ( )

India Hill Brown has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I purchased this book after reading "The Girl In the Lake. I love a good ghost story. The difference between other ghost stories and the type that this author writes is the historical message. Her characters are African American. Her ghost stories came about because of an injustice. In the case of this story, Iris and her neighbor and best friend Daniel break the rules and go out the night of the first snow. To make matters worse they sneak into the forest across the street so their parents won't see them. What they end up finding while making snow angels is a grave of a young girl named Avery. Now Iris is being haunted. The grave is that of a young girl who was buried in a segregated cemetery. Avery doesn't want to be forgotten. That is why she is haunting Iris.

If you think this is a long gone issue think again. Iris knows what it is like to be forgotten. She is the captain of her middle school's step team. Her mom notices on the TV news her middle school and all the club captains being recognized. That is, all except her and her step team. It seems that they are always being forgotten. Emails just seem to get lost. I know for a lot of people who are white like me they often don't see the big deal in this. I do. I have never understood why people feel they should judge other's worth based on their skin color. I am aware there are many African American Cemeteries that have been run down, forgotten about, or evern worse. bulldozed away to make room for other buildings. I like the fact that this author isn't afraid to to address these issues. If there is one thing I hope her books do for the kids who read them is spur them into noticing these injustices and working toward a solution. I look forward to many more books by this author, and I look forward to putting them into the hands of my students. Awesome book! ( )

Aaaaaah, I love it when a book can bring the creep (and boy does this one) and also packs in a great story. Iris sneaks out to play in the snow and brings home terrifying nightmares of a ghost girl who is watching her from the window and trying to lure her out into the cold. Turns out the ghost is from a forgotten segregated cemetery, and Iris must bring attention to the graves to escape the possession. Brings up all kinds of great themes, from Iris' loving Black family, to her best friend's struggle after the death of his father, to the way their town has forgotten the Black students who integrated their schools. Lots to work with, here, and deeply creepy. ( )

Iris and Daniel are playing in the first snow in a clearing in the woods near their house when they discover a grave. When they explore more, they find additional grade. A research project leads them to explore abandoned segregated graveyards in their town. The name on the grave is Avery. Avery's ghost starts to appear before Iris and clearly she wants to be remembered. This brings up a scary component of the story.
Iris and Avery connect in feeling Forgotten. Iris endures numerous slights and oversights, many seem to be related to the her race. ( )