Ellen Poe
The Forgotten Lore
by Diana Peterfreund
read by Marli Watson
Hachette Audio, 2026. 7 hours, 19 minutes.
Review written September 11, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
I love Diana Peterfreund’s books, especially For Darkness Shows the Stars, so I was happy when the library got this new series on audio. This book begins the story of teen Ellen Poe Reynolds. Her family claims that they are descendants of Edgar Allan Poe and a maid he had a fling with before his death.
Ellen and her father have always been skeptical of the stories. But now Ellen is living with her aunt in the family home in Poe-obsessed Baltimore, while her dad is out west trying to earn some money for a place of their own. Aunt Marie is trying to turn the old family home into a Poe-themed Bed and Breakfast, so Ellen has to put up with things like a stuffed raven in her bedroom.
Is it any wonder she has nightmares? But when one of the dead people in her recurring dreams shows up as a new kid at her high school, her exclamation, “You’re dead!” gets badly misinterpreted. However, the boy is intrigued, because he recently died but was revived. How did she know?
At the same time this is going on, in the clutter of boxes, Ellen finds an old journal with the initials E. A. Poe. When she takes it to school, she starts seeing the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe following her. He talks to her – but only using lines from his writing.
The journal is in code, but when Ellen decodes it using a decryption website, she finds what may be unpublished poems of Edgar Allan Poe. If she can prove it, their money troubles will be over. At the same time, the poems contain clues that lead her to the middle of some kind of treasure hunt involving a mysterious group in the city.
And while she’s working on that, it turns out the dreams may be warning of danger.
This is a fun story with code-breaking and puzzles to solve, with lots of Poe trivia on the side. Ellen’s a likable character in the tricky situation of seeing a ghost who isn’t visible to anyone else. I’m pleased that the next book in the series is coming out in October.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/ellen_poe.html
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