Some buildings have stories. This one has a soul—and it wants Ren's attention.

Ren has been looking forward to spending the summer at the cozy beachside motel her Nana owns. But in the year since Ren last saw it, the Sea Mystic Motel has been falling apart. Ren always thought the place had “character,” but now it’s the sort of character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley. And it comes as a bit of a shock when that character starts speaking to her through a crack in the wall.

Worried the motel is haunted, Ren, her gothy sister, and the ghost-hunting boy who lives across the street go digging for answers. The secret they uncover shakes them to their foundations: buildings have souls, and Ren is one of the rare humans who can communicate with them.

Mister, the spirit of the motel, is heart-broken over the loss of neighborhood friends who were demolished to make way for soulless new high-rises. If Ren can’t figure out how to heal Mister before he checks out for good, Nana’s beloved motel will crumble to the ground…and when the Sea Mystic goes, it just might take her family with it.