13 Days of Halloween: Ruined by Paula Morris

Tweet

Ruined is a worthy addition to my Graveyard Bookshelf!

Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She's staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city.

There's just one catch: Lisette is a ghost. A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend -- and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey -- she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

As far as young adult novels go –Ruined by Paula Morris has a few of the conventions: teenage girl moves to a new city and goes to a new school, is an outsider. She runs afoul of the clique in control but attracts the notice of a handsome, popular boy. Romance ensues.

Ruined is a satisfying young adult novel in that sense; however, what elevates Ruined above the rest in my opinion is the setting and Paula Morris’s meticulous research into the rich and complex history of New Orleans and understanding of its current situation. It’s by no means comprehensive but Morris balances the plot, in fact enriches it, by incorporating the complicated class structure of old, wealthy Southern families and the status of free blacks in the 18th Century. The traditions of the former continue in some form to the present day in terms of balls and rituals, but Morris peels back the charming facade of such traditions to expose its racist and elitist origins. It’s not often that I read a young adult novel and somehow learn some riveting, though-provoking history by the end of it. It’s like eating chocolate cake and finding out it’s good for you!

Morris executes very well the subtle representation of racial tension throughout the centuries, even down to the present day, as the story is set post-Hurricane Katrina. Morris makes good use of Rebecca’s observations of New Orleans as an outsider so that I got a real picture of what it’s like to live there in the aftermath of a rebuilt city.

The story of Lisette, the ghost of a black girl murdered in the 18th Century and now haunting the famous Lafayette Cemetery, is central to the story; the romance, thank goodness is secondary. Lisette seems to double as a symbol of New Orleans’s dark history as well as the supernatural crux of Ruined. She didn’t seem, however, to have too much personality. Because she’s a ghost, she can’t be too substantial? Not sure.

"Rebecca slowly raised her head. The clouds obscuring the moon moved, and a strange silvery light brought the tombs around her in focus.

"The person standing over her wasn't Anton or any other guy. It was a black girl, about her age, looking down at Rebecca with curious interest. Her hair was long, hanging to one side in a loose braid. Her white blouse was ripped at one shoulder, and she was fingering her dark skirt, twitching it back and forth as though she was shooing flies.

"The girl and Rebecca stared at each other without speaking; she looked about as startled as Rebecca felt."

The twist itself was shocking and the climactic scene is scary and suspenseful; however, there was a component of the revelation that seemed illogical and lacking in common sense.

And although much of the story occurs in Lafayette Cemetery, the graveyard enthusiast in me wasn’t satisfied. I think Morris could have described this setting in more detail. I suppose I will just have to see it for myself, as it is in one of my top five cemeteries I’d love to visit.