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The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney

Author	Suzanne Harper
Genre	Young Adult Fiction: Fantasy
Published	2008 (Greenwillow Books)
Publication date	May 27, 2008
Pages	368
ISBN	9780061131608

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney is a young adult fiction novel written by Suzanne Harper. It was published on May 27th, 2008 by Greenwillow Books, also known as HarperCollins Publishers.

The book centers on Sparrow Delaney, a fifteen year old girl who lives in Lily Dale, New York, a town synonymous with Spiritualism. Sparrow's six sisters and her grandmother all possess psychic abilities, which they use to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. However, Sparrow denies her abilities, suppressing her talent in the hopes that one day she can just be normal.

Plot Overview

“When you have a deep, dark secret to hide, a new beginning is a very good thing.”

Sparrow Delaney wants nothing more than to be normal: a white picket fence, soccer games and weekend barbecues, the epitome of the average American life. However, being normal is hard when your eccentric grandmother is practicing jujitsu beside the tombstones of her four dead husbands! On top of her family's oddities (which make them the talk of the town), Sparrow has been living with a secret: she is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and, as such, she is an especially gifted medium. She hides her ability to see spirits from her Spiritualist family, hoping that if she can suppress her paranormal abilities, she can live as a normal high school girl.

However, blending in isn't quite that simple, especially when you have three spirit guides. Floyd is Sparrow's first and oldest guide, an apparition that has cared for and protected her since she was a toddler. He is followed by Parajeet, a wizened spirit meant to aid Sparrow in her metaphysical awakening. Professor Edna Trimble is her final spirit guide, meant to coach Sparrow's growth and foster a sense of potential within her. Despite their best efforts to channel Sparrow's remarkable abilities, she stubbornly refuses to admit her abilities to herself and to her family. Above all else, Sparrow does not want to become a professional medium.

Sparrow finally sees a chance for a new start when the Lily Dale School District redraws the high school boundaries. At a new school, no one will know about her family's quirky behaviors or physic background, and she can finally live a normal life. Not to mention the added perk of the cute but surly boy in her history class, Jack Dawson. There is just one problem, however: the relentless spirit named Luke, who haunts her new school and refuses to be ignored by Sparrow.

When a school project brings Sparrow and Jack together to investigate the town's history, Sparrow must try and protect her own secret while revealing those of the town, the persistent poltergeist, and of Jack himself.

Main Characters

Sparrow Delaney is the protagonist of this novel, a fifteen year old girl who wants nothing more than to be an average teenager, despite her supernatural abilities. She describes herself as an avid thrifter, mostly due to her limited budget, and believes herself to be one of the "plainer sisters" in her family. Sparrow is named after the bird, and each of her six sisters is also named after a different species of bird. In a 2010 interview with ShelfLife, Suzanne Harper analyzed Sparrow's character further, "I think the desire to be normal and fit in is a classic teen wish, mainly because almost every teenager (even the popular, “normal” ones) secretly feel that they’re weird and abnormal. Also, teens are very self-conscious about being teased or seen as different, so most of them can identify with the fear of being mocked because their family talks to ghosts (even if their family doesn’t)."

Luke is the persistent spirit that haunts Sparrow relentlessly until she agrees to help him. He is tied to the Mortal Realm for reasons unknown and enlists Sparrow's help so he can finally cross over. He is described as handsome and his personality is described as friendly, infuriating, charming and warm; he is often referred to as the "class clown" by Sparrow.

Jack Dawson is a surly, sarcastic boy in Sparrow's history class. He is described as quiet, observant, and snarky, but reveals himself to be genuine and sensitive as Sparrow gets to know him better. She takes a liking to him almost instantly, and they partner up for a school project researching the town's history. Jack seems to have his own secrets and motives for wanting to research Lily Dale, which become evident as they research the area further.

Setting

Lily Dale, the setting of The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney, is an actual town known for their avid Spiritualism. Image Source

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney is primarily set in the town of Lily Dale, New York, where Sparrow and her family live, creating income off of their psychic abilities. In a 2009 interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Suzanne Harper explained: "The setting is Lily Dale, New York, a real town that was founded more than a hundred years ago as a spiritualist community. Thousands of people still visit Lily Dale every summer to have readings from the spiritual mediums who live there. I read a non-fiction book about Lily Dale a few years ago that sparked my imagination (I’ve always been fascinated by ghosts and mediums)." Harper also added that, "As I started developing Sparrow’s story, I remembered Lily Dale and decided that would be an unusual and perfect setting for the book."

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