Silence at the Lock by Andi Cumbo-Floyd

A lynching. A ghost. A town in turmoil.

Finding the body of a lynched woman isn’t on Mary Steele’s after-school agenda. When the spirited, bookish teen meets the woman’s dead teenage daughter, she discovers a secret that includes the town’s mayor and a very special 94-year-old woman. Now, Mary has to find the secret and the strength to let them be free . . . As the responsibility of her gifts weighs her down, Mary must make a choice about whether or not she’ll speak or stay quiet. When Confederate flags and white supremacists challenge her, the teen learns that sometimes courage is just about telling the truth. Can Mary show her town the truth about their own racist history?

Silence at the Lock is magical realism for adults and young adults alike. If you like richly researched history, inspiring characters, and sensitive explorations of our cultural past, then you’ll love the third book of the Steele Secrets series from Andi Cumbo-Floyd.