The Midnight Dress

The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee, 277 pages

Rose and her father are drifters. In their newest stop, in a little beach town, Rose makes a friend, Pearl. Pearl is different from other friends she has had. Pearl is trying to find her father, who is Russian, even though she doesn’t have his full name. Pearl washes her hair in the rain and talks all the time, sharing information. Pearl is determined that Rose will be in the harvest festival parade and tells her to go to Edie Baker, who can make her a dress, since Rose can’t afford to buy one. Edie agrees but the one condition is that Rose has to help make the dress. Rumors circle about Edie; people say she is a witch and there does seem to be something magical about the dress that they are creating. But instead of magic, the night may end in tragedy. This book was well written but it was kind of unsettling. I didn’t like it as well as I would have hoped. Teen girls who like non-traditional mystery books and books about friendship may like it.