Cooper is a teen struggling with his life. Life went downhill after his dad left the family to start a new one. His mom is constantly busy, juggling multiple jobs and caring for Cooper and his younger sister, Jess. Cooper has to step up to help care for his sister, particularly helping to manage her diabetes. He's also distanced himself from his friends.

For a few months, he's seen a pale, creepy girl watching him from across the way. His ignore or stare-down approach goes away after he becomes intrigued with the mystery of an unknown child from a train crash. The boy was wearing a jacket with the insignia seen on the creepy girl's jacket.

At the same time, Cooper makes friends with the new kid at school, Gus.

Over time, Cooper and Jess realize that Gus is the only other person to see Elena, the girl across the street. The more they dig, the more mysteries appear.

Overall, this was a fun read. The In-Between should appeal to upper elementary through middle school students who want a novel that is a bit creepy and a bit magical.

The In-Between by Rebecca K.S. Ansari was a suspenseful, creepy middle grade novel that middle grade students will love. The creepy books are coming back in popularity for my students and this one has not disappointed them. They recommend it to each other often. I have purchased copies for most of my teacher's classrooms.

A couple years ago I read Rebecca Ansari’s debut, The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly and absolutely loved it! It was just the sort of magical mystery that I loved and now Ansari has another magical mystery that is in the same vein as her first book. The In-Between just came out last week and I loved this one just as much!!

The In Between is about brother and sister, Cooper and Jess. Jess is doing research for a school project one day and learns about a tragic train accident where everyone that died was identified except one child that had a uniform on with a strange symbol that nobody could figure out the origins of. That same day a girl moves in across the street from them named Elena and there’s something very off about her. … It would be too easy to give away important details so I’m going to stop there and say that you should just read this if you like mysteries that aren’t *too* scary but still keep you in suspense.

The twists and turns in this book kept me on the edge of my seat, just like it did with Charlie O’Reilly and I loved every second! Rebecca Ansari, I am officially a huge fan! This mystery was perfect!

I definitely recommend this one for 4th and up!

This is an interesting idea but not much more than that. Scenes are padded with a load of unnecessary details. Characters are underdeveloped. The elements of the resolution are well seeded throughout the plot but it's not especially compelling.

The mystery of Elena drew me in and kept me flipping pages to figure out what, exactly, was going on. I suspected it was going to be a version of an old Jeff Daniels movie called "Grand Tour - Disaster in Time". It was similar in some ways but this book had it's own unique twist on the idea that took events in a different direction. The impending disaster seemed glaringly obvious to me but I'm assuming it will be less so to teen readers. SO, I was tearing through the book until we finally got to the disaster and the resolution of that. All good. But then things dragged on for too long after the resolution and I wanted to be done with the book.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Harper Collins for an E-ARC of this title.

Cooper is dealing with the loss of his family as he knows it while trying to move on. In the midst of handling his emotions and helping his sister Jess realize she too must accept that things have changed, a new girl moves in to the rundown house across the street. The mysterious neighbor sits on the porch and will not let Cooper alone in his misery. Her stares from across their yards draws him in and makes him want to know why she appears to be obsessed with him. Meanwhile, his sister has connected the girl to an unsolved mystery and tragedy from years ago. The two siblings bond researching the mystery trying to uncover how the two might be related, and what the girl's sudden presence might mean. Cooper and Jess are not prepared for the truth nor do they understand the danger they have uncovered from their digging. Another masterful story from Rebecca Ansari with twists and turns that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat.

This slightly spooky and creepy book was one of my favorite reads this year. I loved the sense of fantasy and the mystical aspect of it. So many things are a mystery, until you get to the last chapter and discover who Gus and Elena really are. I loved this book so, so much and it was a great read. Perfect for readers ages 9-12.

Cooper is angry that his father has left him, his sister Jess, and his overworked mother in a run down neighborhood in Chicago and is now in California with his new wife and son. The rage spills into other areas of his life-- he has trouble getting along with his friends because their families are intact, and he is especially angry with the quiet, uncommunicative girl, Elena, in the newly renovated house next door. He managed to be kind to his sister, and to help her manage her diabetes, but he is somewhat relieved when a new boy at school, Gus, befriends him. Gus is having trouble fitting in, having been sent to live with his irascible grandmother while his parents are divorcing. The two boys bond over this, and also over one very odd fact. Cooper, Jess, and Gus can see Elena's house differently than everyone else. To them, it is decrepit and abandoned. When Jess is obsessed with an old train accident, and an unidentified boy who died, Cooper and Jess realize that Elena's school sweater has the same crest on it and start to investigate. what her connection might be. They eventually find that Elena and her sister were killed many years ago, but never died, and seem to travel from tragedy to tragedy, living in "the in-between". Because the three children can see Elena and the true state of her house, they worry that they are next in line for the tragedy they suspect that Elena will precipitate. Will they be able to find out what Elena's true purpose is, and to save themselves?
Strengths: There are lots of twists and turns in this that I don't want to spoil! The real life portions of the story, with Cooper's absent dad, frazzled mother who is ready to move on, and responsibility for his sister's well-being, is solidly well constructed and believable. The constant dinners of various egg dishes was funny but made complete sense! The in-between is built and revealed in an understandable way. Elena and Gus are interesting characters, for various reasons, and there's a lot of hidden depth that we eventually see. Definitely an interesting story, and I love the cover.
Weaknesses: This started out on the slow side, and a lot of time was spent on Cooper's various feelings of sadness, which also slowed down an otherwise interesting story. If this discussion had been replaced by ghosts haunting Cooper, it would do better with my students, who are always in favor of killer ghosts!
What I really think: This was sort of a mix of Scarrow's Time Riders and Plum's Before I Die if it had been written by Judy Blume or Linda Urban. It was fine, but everyone else seems to be far more excited about it than I am.

How easy it would be to reveal too much with this delicious middle-grade mystery by author Rebecca K.S. Ansari!

Eighth-grader Cooper Stewart has been withdrawn and angry ever since his doctor father abandoned his family in Chicago to create a new one in San Diego. A loner now, Cooper is estranged from his friends, his 10-year-old sister Jess and his worried, overburdened single mother. But his sister Jess stumbles on a mystery about a 100-year-old train crash far away, one in which there was an unidentified dead boy. A boy with the same crest as the rich, aloof girl next door. Cooper’s persistence in solving this mystery could bring Cooper back from his lonely abyss. Unless it dooms him first.

Young or old, this suspenseful, creepy novel will keep you reading much too late into the night. I didn’t finish it in one sitting, but I sure came close. So many twists and turns! I never saw the ending coming, either.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, HarperCollins Children’s Books and Walden Press in exchange for an honest review.

I actually reviewed this title for school library journal but my digital copy was corrupted so I had to use this one

At first, I thought this book would be somewhat similar to "miss peregrine's home for peculiar children", however, around midway through the book, I was proven totally incorrect.. I became quickly engulfed in the plot while reading, and there is an interesting mysterious element to the characters. The plot twist near the end of the book was not something I expected, and I seriously applaud the author for such a resolution.

I just could not get into this one, which is too bad. It sounded like something I'd be really into, but it didn't grab me. It's probably a fine book; it just didn't really do it for me.