Liesl and Po / Lauren Oliver/ 307 pages

This is Lauren Oliver's first novel for younger readers...and it is awesome!!  "It is like being everything all at once, and holding the universe inside you and being held inside the universe."  So says Po, explaining to Liesl what its like to be on the Other Side.  Po is a ghost who appears in shadow with her pet companion, Bundle, in Liesl's attic bedroom.  Liesl had been locked in the attic by her stepmother.  Her father died just 3 days ago and her sadness has caused her to stop drawing.  Po has come to see why her light has been extinguished  and why she has stopped drawing.  An alchemist's assistant wonders the same thing and has somehow mixed up the box containing the girl's father's ashes with a box of great magic.  Po helps Liesl run away and they attempt to return the wrong box to her mother's burial place by the willow tree.  This is a great adventure story about friendship and life after death with awesome illustrations by Kei Acedera.