The Jumbies

Corinne lives on the island with her father, and her life is pretty good.  Her mother died when she was small, but her father gives her daily reminders of how Nicole looked and acted.

The other islanders are afraid to go into the woods because of the jumbies, but Pierre has taught Corinne to be rational.  Yes, she should be afraid of the woods because wild animals live there not monsters.

When Corinne goes into the woods one day to retrieve a gift from her mother, she thinks she sees a pair of yellow eyes watching her. Unknown to Corinne, something follows her out of the woods that day.  It smells something it hasn't for a long time.

The next day, a strange and beautiful woman shows up at the market.  The island is small, and Severine says she lives close by, but no one knows her.  Corinne's friends think she might be a jumbie.  Corinne says there's no such thing.  Could there be more happening on her island than she imagined?

This book gets off to a good start with a scene of creepy suspense, but the suspense is a bit uneven after that.  It is, however, a good introduction to a different variety of traditional literature.  Author Tracey Baptiste includes information in the back about which jumbies are taken from her Trinidadian roots and which she created for the story.