• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12
• Reading age: 12 to 18

Music, myth, and horror blend in this romantic, “eerie…atmospheric” (Publishers Weekly) fantasy debut about a teen girl who must fight a powerful evil that’s invaded her Prince Edward Island home—perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens.

There’s a certain wild magic in the salt air and the thrum of the sea. Beet MacNeill has known this all her life. It added spice to her childhood adventures with her older cousin, Gerry, the two of them thick as thieves as they explored their Prince Edward Island home. So when Gerry comes up the path one early spring morning, Beet thinks nothing of it at first. But he is soaking wet and silent, and he plays a haunting tune on his fiddle that chills Beet to the bone. Something is very, very wrong.

Things only get worse when Marina Shaw saunters into town and takes an unsettling interest in Gerry’s new baby. Local lore is filled with tales of a vicious shape-shifting sea creature and the cold, beautiful woman who controls him—a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Marina. Beet is determined to find out what happened to her beloved cousin, and to prevent the same fate from befalling the handsome new boy in town who is winning her heart, whether she wants him to or not. Yet the sea always exacts a price…

Regina M. Hansen teaches at Boston University. She publishes and presents on horror, religion in film, neo-Victorianism, and the fantastic. Her works include the edited volumes Supernatural, Humanity and the Soul (with Susan George; 2014) and Roman Catholicism in Fantastic Film, and a special Stephen King issue of Science Fiction Film and Television (with Simon Brown; 2017), along with the novel The Coming Storm (Atheneum 2021). Her writing on film, folklore, and the supernatural has appeared in the Wall Street Journal Review and the children’s magazine Dig Into History.

Regina M. Hansen's profile page

"This is a thoroughly enjoyable and suspenseful tale. . . readers will be drawn in by the haunting atmosphere. . . A captivating historical ghost story."

Kirkus Reviews

* "There’s a wonderful mix of the mythic and the mundane on display. . . Hansen renders historical Prince Edward Island tangibly, vibrantly alive, awash in traditional musical and maritime culture."

BCCB, Starred Review

"Ethereal and enchanting, this YA fantasy debut . . . tells an elegiac story about the complexity of sorrow. . . Hansen's lyrical prose achieves stunning worldbuilding."

Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Drawing upon maritime myth and Scottish folklore to weave an eerie story filled with magic and music, Hansen intertwines Beet’s narrative with historical flashbacks as the mystery unfolds. There’s a gentle subtlety to this atmospheric debut, with the ocean becoming a character of its own. . ."

Publishers Weekly

"The author’s descriptions . . . create a spooky atmosphere that elicits a delicious sense of creeping dread. . . Hansen moves the story back and forth in time, skillfully introducing characters. . .The Coming Storm is an intriguing, often thrilling tribute to the bonds of love and friendship. It’s also an eloquent ode to the wild beauty of [Prince Edward Island] and a testament to the power of facing what confounds us."

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