The Revenant by Sonia Gensler

The Revenant by Sonia Gensler

Release Date: June 14, 2011

Publisher: Knopf Books For Young Readers 

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 336

Summary: When Willie arrives in Indian Territory, she knows only one thing: no one can find out who she really is. To escape a home she doesn't belong in anymore, she assumes the name of a former classmate and accepts a teaching job at the Cherokee Female Seminary.

Nothing prepares her for what she finds there. Her pupils are the daughters of the Cherokee elite—educated and more wealthy than she, and the school is cloaked in mystery. A student drowned in the river last year, and the girls whisper that she was killed by a jealous lover. Willie's room is the very room the dead girl slept in. The students say her spirit haunts it.

Willie doesn't believe in ghosts, but when strange things start happening at the school, she isn't sure anymore. She's also not sure what to make of a boy from the nearby boys' school who has taken an interest in her—his past is cloaked in secrets. Soon, even she has to admit that the revenant may be trying to tell her something. . . 

My Thoughts: We are introduced to Willie who doesn't want to return home. She doesn't want to go back to her families home. It took her a while to get out, and she despises going back. She wants to lead her own life. She ends up taking a teaching job on Indian Territory.

The catch, it isn't really "her" job and she's living in a dead girl's room who is said to haunt the place.  Of course to Willie, it is gibberish and ghosts don't exist. Until she starts to witness events that are a little too "coincidental."

Throughout her stay, she meets students, teachers, and boys who are a mystery to her.

Honestly, I'm not big into anything historical. I just can't find myself drawn into them. It doesn't matter if its adult historical or young adult historical. I just have trouble getting into them so if you ever see a 5 star rating on a historical from me, it must be beyond amazing.

I wouldn't say The Revenant was a bad book, it wasn't. It just wasn't for me. The best part was the scenes involving Eli, but there wasn't enough to keep me entertained.

The Revenant would be a good story for someone who likes historical and/or ghosts stories.

Overall: It was just "okay." If I was more into historical, I probably would have enjoyed it more.

Cover: I actually do like the cover. Its pretty.

What I'd Give It: