Skip to Main Content

The Other Side of Dark

About The Book

Katie Mullens is known as the weird kid. Dead dad. Dead mom. Loner. Maybe crazy. Always drawing in her sketch pad, and she talks to herself—or at least that’s what it looks like. But Katie is talking to real people…they’re just dead. Law Walker is drawn to Katie when he sees the sketch she’s made of a historic home—the way it looked before it burned. Law soon discovers that Katie’s sight goes beyond death, and what she sees reveals the strange, twisted history of a famous Boston family’s connection to the illegal post-emancipation slave trade.

Past, present. Living, dead. Black, white. This is a powerhouse debut about ugly histories, unlikely romances, and seeing people—alive and otherwise—for who they really are.

About The Author

Photo Credit: Andree Lerat

Sarah Smith has a BA and PhD in English Literature from Harvard University.  She is the author of a three-novel mystery series set in turn of the century Boston and Paris.  This is her YA debut.  She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Visit her online at sarahsmith.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (November 2, 2010)
  • Length: 320 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781442402829
  • Ages: 12 - 99

Browse Related Books

Awards and Honors

  • Massachusetts Children's Book Award

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images