Ghostish Stories

Do you like ghostish stories? Stories about the dead? Zombies? Well I don't and I have just read two! The first left me feeling very unsettled and I still am not sure if I am going to put it into the Library. "The Haunting of Derek Stone" is beyond a ghost story - it is really a very scary zombie story and the chase of the zombies after this young boy Derek who narrowly escaped death himself.

It was reassuring to talk to Ms. Brown who agreed with me about what we buy and recommend to students. We try to buy great books that are well written and powerful in their message or theme. Some books might be funny, sad, of historical note or just plain good. I am just not sure of this one.

However, at Summer School, this book turned up on a student's "best books they have read" list. Maybe kids like zombie stories and I just have to trust their judgement and give in to their tastes. Needless to say this is the beginning of a series - the author is Tony Abbott - of the "Secrets of Droon" series. I am going to sit on the fence with this and wait till I hear a couple more opinions.

"The Night Tourist" by Katherine Marsh won the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. It took me a while to get into this one - but I can see its appeal. Jack also narrowly escaped death. His father sends him to a doctor in New York city and while waiting for the train home in Grand Central Station manages to meet a girl, Euri, who takes him on a tour under the station. This underworld just happens to be the home of many ghosts who have not yet moved on. Two rules of the underworld say that if a living person stumbles into this area and are caught they will be killed and another is they can only stay for three nights or have to stay forever. Jack decides to find his mother, who died in New York when Jack was little, to ask her all sorts of questions. Lots of adventures follow and you will have to read it to find out if Jack manages or even wants to escape.

I also re-read one of my favorites "Bloody Jack" and loved it all over again. This is a Grade 7 read but what a ride! It tells of Jacky's adventures on the HMS Dolphin as a ship's boy only Jacky is a girl disguised as a boy. She is always getting into trouble but always getting out of trouble too, sometimes by luck, more often by using her head and quick thinking. I think I will have to re-read the rest of the series!

What have you read today?