The Mesmerist by Ronald L. Smith

Jessamine Grace and her mother make a living pretending to be able to speak to the dead.  People pay them to talk to loved ones who have passed on.  Jessamine knows that shamming people is wrong, but she and her mom need the money.  Then, a weird thing happens in one of their sessions.  A message shows up on a slate, but it isn't the message that Jessamine wrote.  Next thing she knows, Jessamine's mother is taking her to meet an old friend in London, which launches Jessamine into an adventure for which she never could have prepared herself!

The Mesmerist (Lexile: 660; Interest Level: Grades 4-7) by Ronald Smith launches the reader into a world of mystery in which the supernatural may be real and the distant past is haunting the "present" (although the story takes place in the 1800s).  Can Jessamine and her new friends figure out the riddle in the rhyme they keep hearing?  Will it be in time?

For readers who enjoy a bit of the supernatural and extraordinary, especially those who may believe in ghosts and monsters, this will be an engaging read. (272 p.)

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