Rebel Spirits

Lori Chase doesn’t know what to think about ghosts. She may have seen a few in the past, but those were just childish imaginings. . . right? Only now that she is living in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, spirits seem to be on everyone’s mind. The town is obsessed with its bloody Civil War history, and the old inn that Lori’s parents run is supposedly haunted by the souls of dead soldiers. Then Lori meets one such soldier—the devastatingly handsome Nathaniel Pierce. Nathaniel’s soul cannot rest, and he desperately needs Lori’s help. Nathaniel was not killed in the famous battle. He was murdered. Lori begins to investigate the age-old mystery, stumbling upon shocking clues and secrets. At the same time, she can’t help falling for Nathaniel, just as he is falling for her. 

Though Lori knows she can see ghosts, she isn’t expecting to meet the ghost of a handsome soldier. Nathaniel’s mysterious death, haunting good looks, and introspective nature quickly captivate her. As Lori investigates his death, she learns more about the Civil War that claimed his life. She makes a compelling narrator that teenagers will relate to—like most teens, she struggles to understand her romantic feelings, is reluctant to confide in her parents, and isn’t sure who to trust with her innermost thoughts. 

To solve his murder, Nathaniel retells his involvement in a Civil War battle, including brief but gruesome descriptions of soldiers who died from their injuries. Though he has only three days to solve his murder, he doesn’t seem eager to pursue the mystery and lacks essential clues that would lead Lori to the answer. Despite this, his heartrending story, empathy for others, and affection for Lori make him a worthy love interest. 

Evan, a young man who works at Lori’s family’s bed and breakfast, helps her understand Gettysburg’s history and also becomes a love interest. At times, his cheerful personality and obvious affection for Lori overshadow Nathaniel. When he learns about Lori’s quest, Evan offers his help in a kind and respectful manner. The story feels like a weak love triangle since Nathaniel will disappear in three days, while Evan has time on his side. 

After Lori nearly dies, she asks Nathaniel, “Would you allow me to be dead so we could stay together?” He acknowledges that he doesn’t belong in her world, nor she in his, saying, “Some things are timeless, and one of them is this: Love is not selfish.” He explains how he helped save her life, then adds, “Evan Maxwell. He’s a good man, and he cares for you. Give him a corner of your heart.” This moment highlights the importance of selfless love. However, their romance develops too quickly and feels shallow—especially since Lori plans to go to dinner with Evan the day after Nathaniel leaves. 

Rebel Spirits will entertain teenagers seeking romance mixed with mystery and ghosts. However, the story lacks historical depth and could have taken place anywhere in the United States, missing opportunities to explore the Civil War and Gettysburg in detail. The spirit world’s rules are also inconsistent—Nathaniel has only three days with Lori yet afterward remains in contact with another person who sees ghosts. The conclusion feels rushed, like a puzzle whose pieces don’t quite fit. However, readers who enjoy character-driven novels will appreciate its positive message about selfless love and find it an easy, enjoyable read.   

Sexual Content  

• Nathaniel unexpectedly kisses Lori. “Not a quick kiss on the cheek like I gave Evan, but a full kiss on the lips. My first kiss, actually. . . It’s sweet and delicious and I want it to go on and on. I close my eyes and kiss him back, and feel my insides turn to Jell-O.” 
• Lori and Nathaniel are on a bench talking when, “He pulls me toward him, locks me in his arms, and his lips on mine are warm and firm. They taste of ginger, and I can’t get enough.” 
• Lori is at a creek near her home when Nathaniel materializes. “He greets me with a long kiss. I want to enjoy it even more than I already do, but my mind is elsewhere. I pull back.” 
• Lori seeks the help of Evan. As they’re talking, “he leans forward, and without much warning plants his lips on mine.” Lori thinks, “It was pretty nice, considering that he’s the second guy to kiss me today.” 
• Lori and Nathaniel meet to say goodbye. “His arms are around me, mine around him, as if nothing could ever come between us. . . Our lips eagerly find each other, and for that brief moment, I forget that we’ll soon be torn apart.” 

Violence  

• Nathaniel Pierce, who is a ghost, was murdered. Nathaniel turns around, and “that’s when [Lori] see[s] the torn fabric and dried blood of a gaping hole in the middle of his back.” 
• Nathaniel talks about the war. Even though the battle had ended, “It was not the end of misery in this town where bodies of men and horses were strewn everywhere. Even more tragic were the wounded who waited for help. . . Imagine four wounded soldiers writhing in agony. They’re waiting for rescue to a field hospital, too weak, too torn apart to get there on their own.” A storm fills the creek and floods. The four soldiers die. 
• One of the workers at the bed and breakfast won’t stay in the house after dark. She says, “. . . on quiet nights, you can still hear the screams of the soldiers having their arms and legs cut off. Without an anesthetic.” 
• Nathaniel’s best friend’s father, Mr. Larch, worked in a mine. The man took a lantern into the mine. “He no sooner stepped off the elevator when he heard the roof rumbling. The wooden stakes. . . started buckling. . . The roof collapsed, most likely knocking the lantern out of Mr. Larch’s hand, which set off an explosion with the trapped gases.” Mr. Larch dies. 
• After a battle, Nathaniel helps a “drummer boy, maybe fourteen, and he was a Reb. Entrails spilled out of the jagged hole in the boy’s gut. His eyes were glazed over, but when my face came close, they filled with fear.” Nathaniel took the boy to the field hospital. Soon after, another man, Henry, brought a patient to the hospital and got angry that the doctor wouldn’t help him immediately. “Henry went berserk and started throwing wild punches. Landed one on the side of the doctor’s head. I wrestled Henry to the ground.” Both patients died. 
• During the war, people could tell the houses that were being used as hospitals “by the trail of blood up the front steps, and the arms and legs tossed out the back window. Kept dozens of civilians busy just burying the pile of limbs.” 
• Lori’s friend Charlotte can also see ghosts. Charlotte has seen Nathaniel before. She tells Lori, “He shows up every year at this time, but he only stays until the Battle Days are over. . . It surprised me to see him. He’s usually just spirit, not flesh. You must be special for him to appear in bodily form and give you his name. Once a spirit offers his name, he’s vulnerable. He’s yours.”  
• Lori asks Nathaniel about his family. He says, “They’re waiting to know how all this turns out. I can feel them hovering near sometimes, but they’re quiet, just waiting.” 
• Lori finds a letter that explains how Nathaniel died. Nathaniel’s friend snuck up behind him with the intent to shoot him. The letter reads: “The wrongdoer, even in the darkest crevice of his soul, professed to be a faithful friend as he pointed his pistol. God save us from such acts of friendship.” The letter writer tries to stop the man, but “God help me, my fingers were on the trigger when the gun fired, and [Nathaniel] Pierce gasped his final, labored breath.” The letter writer accidentally shot Nathaniel. 
• A group of people who have been looking for the ring are digging in a shed close to the bed and breakfast. The people discover Lori spying on them. Lori’s hands and legs are bound, and then one of the men, Cadmus, “gruffly tosses me onto the seat of the riding mower. The impact shoots a pain up my spine, which is already bruised. . .” Cadmus uses Chloroform to knock Lori out. 
• Nathaniel’s gravestone is next to Jenny Wade. Jenny “was the only civilian killed during the Battle when a random bullet found her inside her sister’s house.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• The Civil War doctors used Chloroform as an anesthetic. 

Language  

• OMG, Oh God, and Oh my God are all used once.   
• A woman says, “Lord-a-mercy.” 

Supernatural 

• Several characters can see ghosts, and Lori has a relationship with one. When Lori gets to Gettysburg, a young man appears before her. “The dense air shimmers. Right in front of my eyes, the molecules—or whatever—form themselves into a shadowy image.” Lori and her friend have a Ouija board and a “genuine fake” crystal ball. “We charge everyone fifty cents for a glimpse into their future, a dollar if they want to hear actual knocks and squeals from the dead.” It was all fake, but then one day Lori actually saw something in the crystal ball. “A child falling out of a tree. He was twisted and motionless on the hard ground, with his glasses unbroken next to him.” The next day, she read a newspaper article about the boy’s death.  
• Lori tells her brother about seeing a ghost. He tells her about “a tradition among the Kikongo people here in West Africa. It means the threshold between worlds. . . People here believe that after death the soul travels the path of the sun as it sets in the west. . . West Africans kidnapped as slaves believed that the kalunga line was under the Atlantic Ocean, because the living became dead when they got to the US as slaves.” 
• A woman tells Lori that strange things happen at the bed and breakfast. “Sometimes you got to watch for dishes and such floating through the air. . . unless they’re weighed down good, and even then. Ghosts are powerful things, even if they’re all just puffs of air.” 
• A doctor had a ring that belonged to Abe Lincoln’s son. He believed it was a lucky charm. The doctor says, “Pray to God it’ll see me through this bloody war.” On the day the doctor loses the ring, he dies. 
• After the doctor dies, a man finds Abe Lincoln’s son’s ring. The man decides the ring is a blessing and a curse because it is “a reminder of a dear friend and of my son’s brief life. . . My prayer is that no other father or mother will be blinded by its glitter and suffer the loss of a child who wears it.” 
• A woman finds a concealed shoe at the bed-and-breakfast. “Folks around here always used to put a well-loved child’s shoe in the wall when they built it. Supposed to hold the spirit of the child and bring good luck to the family.” 
• Lori goes to a battleground to wait for Nathaniel. While she’s there, she hears a multitude of voices from ghosts. Lori wonders, “What part did [Nathanial] have in sharing those haunting, comforting voices with me?”  

Spiritual Content  

• When a woman throws a lit match on the floor of the shed, Lori worries it will ignite the flammable fertilizer bags and cause them to explode. Lori prays, “Don’t let the embers ignite the whole shed.” 
• When Cadmus orders a woman to Chloroform Lori, Lori is “praying she’ll toss the bottle out the window.”