Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
Miranda isn't happy when sullen orphan Abby Chandler comes to live with her family. But Miranda's anger turns to shock when she learns the girl's horrible secret: Abby's parents and sisters were killed in a house fire in this very town--more than three hundred years ago. Somehow Abby survived the fire and has been living in a virtual limbo ever since. Fifteen-year-old Miranda Browne, the extraordinary protagonist from Kathryn Reiss's first novel, Time Windows, returns for a new time-travel adventure.
Is Pale Phoenix appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 12 and up.
Parents should know this YA time-travel story deals with a girl who survived a tragic house fire that killed her entire family 300 years ago. Themes of grief, loss, and displacement are central, but handled age-appropriately without graphic violence or mature content.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include death of parent, death of child, and grief (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens will be drawn to the mystery of how Abby survived and the supernatural time-travel elements connecting past and present.