(With Signed Bookplate & Enamel Pin*) The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf

An all-girls school is struck with mysterious cases of screaming hysteria in this chilling dark academia thriller haunted by a deeply buried history clawing to the light.

For over a hundred years, girls have fought to attend St. Bernadette’s, with its reputation for shaping only the best and brightest young women.

Unfortunately, there is also the screaming.

When a student begins to scream in the middle of class, a chain reaction starts that impacts the entire school. By the end of the day, seventeen girls are affected—along with St. Bernadette’s stellar reputation.

Khadijah’s got her own scars to tend to, and watching her friends succumb to hysteria only rips apart wounds she’d rather keep closed. But when her sister falls to the screams, Khad knows she’s the only one who can save her.

Rachel has always been far too occupied trying to reconcile her overbearing mother’s expectations with her own secret ambitions to pay attention to school antics. But just as Rachel finds her voice, it turns into screams.

Together, the two girls find themselves digging deeper into the school’s dark history, hunting for the truth. Little do they know that a specter lurks in the darkness, watching, waiting, and hungry for its next victim…

Review

“Alkaf uses Malaysian supernatural elements to good atmospheric effect; even better is the sensitive, riveting portrayal of the girls’ inner lives. United, their voices become a blunt instrument…but one wielded with great skill and efficacy.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Praise for The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s

* “Alkaf successfully uses the oppressive mood and ominous hauntings to convey real-life terrors, from sexual violence to societal expectations, that keep young women from being heard. A gripping, perceptive read.”—Booklist (starred review)

* “Piercing observations into the teens’ struggles gaining autonomy are explored alongside sensitively wrought instances of trauma and sexual violence via immersive prose.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A perceptive examination of trauma and its manifestation on women’s bodies, minds, and voices.”—Kirkus Reviews

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (September 24, 2024)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1665970839

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1665970839

Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 years and up

Grade level ‏ : ‎ 9 - 12

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.8 ounces

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.25 inches

* While stocks last 

About the Author

Hanna Alkaf is the author of The Weight of Our Sky, Queen of the Tiles, The Girl and the Ghost, Hamra and the Jungle of Memories, and The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s, as well as coeditor of the young adult anthology The Grimoire of Grave Fates. She graduated with a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has spent most of her life working with words, both in fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Kuala Lumpur with her family.