A Pocket Full of Posies

by Shawn Sarles

Overview

Who will be the one to fall? In this terrifying spin on the old rhyme, a family moves to a seemingly perfect town only to discover that it is anything but normal.

The scent of the town engulfs Parker in its perfume the moment she enters the gates. So much so that she nearly forgets all about the life that she left behind and the best friend she abandoned. Coronation is a place where she and her parents can have a new start. And as soon as Parker gets there, its peacefulness puts her at ease. Everyone is nice. The tennis team immediately accepts her. Even the boys are easy to talk to. The only thing that she can’t quite understand is the town’s history—its devotion to the saint, Rosamund, who helped the original town settlers survive their first winter all those years ago.

But she isn’t the only skeptic. Whatever you do, hold on tight. Don’t fall down, the boy tells her frantically before the town’s yearly Spring Festival—thrown in Rosamund’s honor to encourage the harvest. But Parker can’t help it. The vibrant festival immediately draws her into the gardens, the rows of flowers, the food, the laughter. Linked together with the other girls, Parker finds herself spinning with the other girls, struggling to stay in sync. Tilting forward, it’s as if her balance has been taken from her.

Because Rosamund has been waiting. Parker has been chosen. Coronation’s next Rose Duchess has been crowned, destined to fulfill her role unless she can find a way to uncover the truth.

Ring around the rosie

For long ago the seed was sown.

A pocket full of posies

A sacrifice must be made.

Ashes, ashes

One must die for the town to survive.

We all fall down

The Rose Duchess must follow in her footsteps. Offering herself up to the flames.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338794014
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	209,741
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	HL690L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Shawn Sarles is the Indie Bestselling Author of Campfire, Mary, Will I Die?, and the forthcoming A Pocket Full of Posies. Born in western Kentucky, he went to college at Wake Forest University. He lives in Philadelphia with a French bulldog and two chatty parrots.

Editorial Reviews

"A creepy premise, a strong hook, and a quickly moving plot." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-08-17
A fresh start turns into a living nightmare when Parker is the first to fall in a high-stakes game of Ring Around the Rosie.

At first, an unexpected and sudden move away from Washington, D.C., to a new town seems like exactly the break Parker needs to escape the consequences of her own bad decisions. But from the moment she arrives in Coronation, Massachusetts, and notices a strange, cloying scent in the air, it seems as if something sinister is brewing beneath the idyllic, charming surface of the town. As she delves deeper into the mystery surrounding Rosamund, the saintlike figure who saved the town’s original settlers, she receives a warning from a mysterious boy that she doesn’t understand until it’s too late—and she again finds herself in the center of a bad situation. This time, though, she is the one who has been betrayed, and she may not escape with her life. This enjoyable if not particularly groundbreaking story contains many of the hallmarks of good campy horror—too-convenient plot points, shallow characterization, forewarned betrayal—and leans heavily on visceral descriptions and well-crafted suspense rather than deeply resonant characters. More seasoned fans of the genre may find things to be a bit too formulaic, but newer horror readers and those likely to be intimidated by longer, denser works should find much entertainment here. Main characters default to White.

A creepy premise, a strong hook, and a quickly moving plot will capture less-critical readers. (Horror. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews