As a little girl Chloe Saunders was afraid of the basement, not because of imagined monsters or the dark, but because of the ghosts she saw there.

As a 15 year-old Chloe has attributed the memories of the ghosts she saw as a little girl, to the an overactive imagination. Until one day at school she is terrorized by the ghost of a janitor that is horribly burned, and the whole school witnesses the event. The school officials have Chloe sent to Lyle House, a place where teens like her learn to live with their pyschiatric diagnoses. At Lyle House, the staff encourages her to accept that she has schizophrenia, and their she meets others who have similar problems;Rae, a girl who likes to start fires; Derek,a boy who is supposed to be increduibly volatile and dangerous; Tori, a girl with severe and sudden mood changes; Liz, who destroys things when she is angry; and Simon, who is apparently placed at Lyle house for no reason.

Intially Chloe is somewhat willing to accept her diagnosis, she takes her meds, goes to therapy, but the ghosts still plague her. She eventually begins to question the motives of the staff at Lyle House and her diagnosis , after one of the teens is taken away to be relocated, and she sees what she begins to believe might be the teen's ghost, a prank by another shows her how strong her powers are, and a dark secrect under Lyle house is uncovered.

The beginning of the book is slow , but towards the middle it definitely gains momentum. By the end of the book the reader is thrown into a interesting situation with promises for an intriguing sequel. Readers suspecting a paranormal romance, based on the book's cover will be suprised if they read this book. Although The Summoning has elements of romance infused throughout , and several of the charcters have relationships, this book is also an excellent read for those who like ghost stories,fantasy, an intriguing plot, and a brillant start to a series.

Ages Group: 13 and up

Content: References to ghosts, references to people dying in fires and after experiments, an unfounded suggestion that charcters may have been engaging in sexual activity, references to mental illness,suggestions that one charcter may have been killed, curse words bi...