Posted on October 8, 2018October 6, 2021 by TracyC

The Ghost Belonged to Me

GhostBelongedToMe

The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck, 1975.

The book takes place in the 1910s in a small town on the Mississippi River. Alexander Armsworth, a boy in his early teens, is approached by a girl from his class who tells him that the barn on his family’s property is haunted and that Alexander himself has the ability to see the “Unseen.” The girl, Blossom Culp, is a poor girl from a family of outcasts who has been known to tell tall tales, so Alexander isn’t sure he believes her at first. However, he can’t help but be curious, and when he sees a light coming from the barn at night, he decides to investigate.

Inside, he finds the ghost of a young girl who warns him of danger on the trolley tracks near his house and tells him that he must act fast to save everyone. Frightened, Alexander gets the trolley to stop and learns that by doing so, he has saved the lives of everyone on board from a disaster at the bridge further on. Naturally, everyone wants to know how Alexander knew to warn them. When Alexander explains, he is met with skepticism from his social-climbing mother and sister and unwelcome attention from news people and curiosity-seekers from town.

The ghost, who tells Alexander that her name is Inez Dumaine, is also in need of help before she can rest peacefully. Alexander will need the help of those who believe in him and the ghost to find Inez’s body and return it to her home in New Orleans.

In this first book in of the Blossom Culp series, Alexander is the main character, but the other books focus more on Blossom, who discovers that she also has the ability to see ghosts. The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

This is the movie that the Disney movie Child of Glass was based on, and the movie is available on dvd. Sometimes, you can also find it on YouTube, at least clips and reviews of it.

My Reaction

The story has sad and scary points, but those are balanced out by humorous situations. Alexander’s sister’s turmoil over the fiasco at her coming-out party is hilarious, and his mother’s change in attitude when she realizes that, instead of making them social outcasts, the ghost business actually attracts attention from one of the town’s leading citizens is a hoot. Blossom, of course, is wonderfully nosy, elbowing her way into Alexander’s life and selling tours of the haunted barn.

I was very young when I saw the Disney movie based on this book, Child of Glass (a live action movie that aired on television), and I was afraid of ghosts. However, years later, I took another look at the movie and decided to read the book that it was based on. When I did, I saw things I didn’t appreciate when I was young. The dialog and depiction of life in the early 20th century in the book are wonderful. It conjured up memories of Meet Me in St. Louis, especially the Halloween scene (which took place only about a decade earlier than this story). Unfortunately, this early 20th century setting wasn’t present in the movie version of this book because Child of Glass was placed contemporary with the time it was made, during the late 20th century.

The Disney movie was also different from the original book because it added the feature of the “child of glass” which didn’t exist in the original book. The “child of glass” was mentioned in a poem at Inez’s grave that explained how to lay her ghost to rest. At first, the Alexander and Blossom in the movie don’t know what it means, but it turns out to be Inez’s doll, which was lost when she was murdered by her wicked uncle. In the book, Inez died under different circumstances. However, the discovery of the doll in the movie uncovers the secret motive behind her murder, which is similar to the reason why Inez’s body was hidden in the book after she died in a riverboat accident. In the book, Inez’s spirit finds rest after her body is found and taken to her family’s cemetery in New Orleans. The Disney movie also turns this story specifically into a Halloween story, which wasn’t the case in the original book.

Posted on October 5, 2018October 5, 2018 by TracyC

Who’s Haunting the Eighth Grade?

Junior High Series

JHHaunting

#13 Who’s Haunting the Eighth Grade? by Kate Kenyon, 1988.

A group of eighth graders are going on a field trip to see a Shakespeare play in another town, but right from the start, everything seems to be going wrong. The teachers who are accompanying them on their trip are in a foul mood and spend a good part of the trip arguing with each other, which bothers the kids because they know that the teachers have recently become engaged to each other. Then, the bus breaks down in a small town before they can reach their destination. The entire class is going to have to spend the night somewhere in the small town.

At first, things look like they’re going to improve when the group decides to spend the night at a local bed and breakfast in a big, beautiful, old house. However, their spirits are almost immediately dampened again when they are told that the house is haunted and that anyone who tries to stay there is scared away by the ghost. Still, they proceed with their plan to stay there in order to avoid staying at the dumpy local motel, the only other choice of accommodation.

Needless to say, before the night is over, the ghost puts in an appearance, and strange things start to happen. By then, the students have come to feel sorry for the owner of the bed and breakfast, a nice older lady who grew up in the house but can’t really afford to keep it unless she can make her inn a success. Can the eighth graders catch the ghost, stop the hauntings, save the bed and breakfast from having to close, patch up the relationship between their feuding teachers, and still make it in time to see the play?

The book takes place in the 1980s, and the kids in the story are 14 years old. They mention the decade somewhere during the course of the story, and the descriptions of the clothes and some pop culture references make the time period fairly obvious. It also has some of the stock characters that books for pre-teens and early teens in the 80s have (ex. a boy-crazy space cadet, a level-headed health nut, a class clown, and a couple of young punks). Still, even though there are some things about the book that are a bit dated, it is still pretty enjoyable. The author has a sense of humor, and she plays with the characters’ stereotypes a bit. The class clown is secretly quite sensitive and even a bit perceptive. There are also a couple of fun scenes when the girl who is only interested in boys is shocked to discover that the boys are more interested in the mystery than in her.

Posted on June 27, 2018October 19, 2022 by TracyC

The Haunting of Cabin 13

The Haunting of Cabin 13 by Kristi D. Holl, 1987.

Thirteen-year-old Laurie is looking forward to her family’s vacation. They’ve rented a cabin for a week, Cabin 13, by the lake at Backbone State Park (It’s a real state park in Iowa. Link repaired 10-19-22.), and her friend Jenny is staying there with them. Laurie’s mother isn’t looking forward to the trip. She hates dirt and bugs and doesn’t like the cabin when they arrive. As everyone starts unpacking, Laurie looks around the cabin and finds a note that warns them to leave because the cabin is haunted. Supposedly, it was written by the ghost herself. The note is signed “Eleanor.” Laurie’s mother thinks that they should leave right away, but Laurie and the rest of the family persuade her that it’s just a joke. At first, Laurie’s sure that’s all it is.

Then, the park ranger tells the family that the other families who have tried to stay in that cabin this summer also found similar notes. It might be just a prank, but it might not. He also tells them that a girl named Eleanor, the same age as Laurie and Jenny, drowned there the summer before, and strange things have been seen there since, like lights around the lake. Laurie’s brother, Ricky, thinks it sounds cool that they’re staying in a haunted cabin by a haunted lake. Like others, Laurie thinks that the notes are the product of a prankster, but what would be the point behind it?

The girls meet a pair of brothers who are staying nearby, Kevin and Matt. When they tell them about the note, Matt is eager to investigate. Jenny enjoys flirting with boys, and she’s mostly interested in flirting with good-looking, athletic Kevin. Matt is in a wheelchair, so Jenny doesn’t pay much attention to him. She just makes an awkward comment about cripples being able to contribute to society that makes everyone feel uncomfortable. Although Laurie knows that Jenny’s comment was inappropriately personal and callous, Laurie also underrates Matt’s ability to help with their note mystery at first, and she’s shy about talking to him because she’s often shy around boys. However, needing someone to confide her thoughts in when Jenny isn’t interested, Laurie talks to Matt about her theories about the mysterious notes. Matt turns out to be easy to talk to, helping Laurie get over her nervousness about talking to boys.

At first, Laurie tells Matt that she thinks that the prankster is trying to drive people away from Cabin 13 because something important is hidden there. However, as she starts asking questions about Eleanor, she learns that the notes haven’t just been directed at Cabin 13. Staff at the park have also received notes from “Eleanor.” Laurie also sees a figure in black sneaking around the park, who she is sure is not a ghost.

It isn’t long before Laurie receives more notes from “Eleanor,” hinting that she might be in danger, and she and Jenny see the mysterious lights that people have been talking about. Then, when the children are out in a canoe together, it develops a leak and sinks. Matt panics because his legs are paralyzed, and he can’t swim, but Laurie saves him with the help of some people in another boat.

Was that accident just an accident, or could it have something to do with Eleanor’s “accident” last year? There are plenty of suspects who might have reasons for playing ghost and stirring up trouble at the lake. Matt’s father blames the park ranger for the accident that paralyzed Matt. At a previous visit to the lake, Matt was crossing a road with his father and brother and was struck by a speeding car. Matt father says it wouldn’t have happened if the roads had been policed properly. Laurie realizes that he might have a motive for revenge. Then again, some people have been coming to the lake, drawn by the ghost stories and hoping to see the mysterious lights. Could the ghost be a publicity stunt to drum up business?

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction and Spoilers

When Laurie discovers that Eleanor’s half sister has come to the lake to investigate Eleanor’s death herself, she thinks that she has the mystery solved, but she’s only half right. It’s true that Eleanor’s sister has been responsible for some of the things happening at the lake, but not all of them. She explains to the kids that Eleanor loved mystery stories and was always playing detective games, but she thinks that perhaps the game got too real for Eleanor the summer that she died. There is something sinister going on at the lake, something that Eleanor also realized before her death, and there is more to Eleanor’s death than most people know.

At the end of the book, Matt gets a chance to be a hero and stop the bad guy from escaping, using his wheelchair to his advantage because a person on wheels can sometimes move faster than a person on foot. Even before that, Laurie had gained an appreciation for Matt and his sensible thinking, realizing that a person who is impaired in one way can still have great abilities in other areas of life. She also comes to think of Matt as being brave for coming back to the site of the accident that made him a paraplegic. Matt says that he had to come in order to prove to himself that there was nothing inherently bad about the place and to stop the nightmares he was having about his accident. Matt and Eleanor’s sister both make Laurie realize that everyone has something difficult or frightening that they have to deal with in their lives; it’s just that some people’s problems are more obvious than others. Everyone can see what Matt’s dealing with at first glance because he’s in a wheelchair, but no one knew about the pain and fear that Eleanor’s sister was carrying around with her until she admitted it.

I consider this story a pseudo-ghost story because the obvious parts of the haunting were caused by living people, for reasons of their own. However, Laurie seems to feel that Eleanor’s spirit was there with them, waiting to see the mystery of her death solved. It’s left open to interpretation, but if Eleanor was there, it was only seen in the odd feelings that Laurie had from time to time, not in any more obvious or physical way.

Something that confused me a little in the book is that, at one point, Jenny tells someone that Laurie already has a reputation for being an amateur detective, having discovered that Jenny herself had been kidnapped when the authorities thought that she had run away from home. Jenny gives full details of the time when she was kidnapped, including who kidnapped her and why and how Laurie figured out where she was. When I read that section of the story, I thought at first that the author was talking about a previous book that she had written with these two characters, but I had trouble figuring out which it was, if any.

Interesting fact: some of the children in the story are named after the author’s own children.

Posted on January 10, 2018 by TracyC · 1 Comment

The Haunting at Cliff House

HauntingCliffHouse The Haunting at Cliff House by Karleen Bradford, 1985.

This is a relatively short chapter book, but suspenseful, thoughtful, and well-written.

When her father inherits an old house in Wales from a distant relative, Alison, a young teenager, finds out that he plans for the two of them to spend the summer there. Alison’s father is a university professor and is writing a book, and he thinks that the house in Wales sounds like a great place for him to get some writing done while he and Alison have a look at his new inheritance. Alison isn’t enthusiastic about the trip, but she and her father are very close, especially because she lost her mother at a very young age. Besides, the only place she could stay in Canada would be with her grandmother, and her grandmother didn’t seem enthusiastic about having her.

From the moment they arrive at the old house, called Pen-y-Craig or Cliff House by the locals, Alison has a bad feeling about it. It stands on a lonely cliff by a small town. The carved dragon over the door gives her the creeps, and there is something disturbing about a particular room in the house. Sometimes, she can almost hear a voice calling out to her, and she has visions of another girl, about her age. At first, she tries to tell herself that it’s all her imagination, but it soon becomes obvious that it’s not.

Some of the local people know that the house has an unhappy history, and Alison eventually learns that the great-aunt that her father inherited it from even refused to live there during her last years because it disturbed her too much. A little more examination of the room that had disturbed her helps Alison discover the reason why. After having a vision of a young girl hiding something behind a brick in the fireplace of one of the bedrooms, Alison searches the spot and finds a diary dating from 1810, written by a girl named Bronwen, who was the same age as Alison. Like Alison, Bronwen was brought to the house by her widowed father and was unhappy about it, but those aren’t the only parallels between Bronwen’s life and Alison’s.

Alison becomes uncomfortable with her father’s new friendship with a Welsh neighbor, Meiriona. Alison likes Meiriona’s younger brother, Gareth, but when it looks like her father’s friendship with Meiriona is turning into romance, Alison becomes jealous and fears changes in her close relationship with her father, a situation that mirrors Bronwen’s life when her father falls in love with her governess, Catrin. Although Meiriona tries to be nice to Alison, Alison can’t bring herself to like her, and she argues with her father about it.

The only person who seems to understand her feelings at all is Gareth, and Alison confides her worries in him, both about Meiriona and about Bronwen, whose spirit keeps calling out to Alison to help her, although Alison doesn’t know how. She struggles to read through the diary, whose pages are not all legible anymore because they’re damaged with age, to learn what happened to Bronwen and what Bronwen wants her to do now. Gareth tries to reassure Alison that her father’s relationship with Meiriona will not be as bad as Alison thinks. He thinks that the relationship would be good for both Alison’s father and Meiriona because they are both lonely, and he doesn’t think that Alison should worry about losing her father because he’s not worried about losing his sister, even if she goes to Canada to study and spend more time with Alison’s father. At first, Alison isn’t comforted by these reassurances. However, Gareth agrees that the matter of the ghost is serious, and he can feel her presence as well. Gareth warns Alison to be cautious about the ghost but to try to help if she can and to call out to him if she’s ever in danger. Alison would really rather just go home to Canada, run away from her father and Meiriona, and forget the whole thing about Bronwen, but history seems to be repeating itself, and Bronwen’s voice calls out to her insistently for help that only Alison can give.

It’s a bit of a spoiler, telling you this, but although Alison at first thinks that the diary ends with Bronwen killing herself in despair, thinking that her father only loved Catrin and not her and that there was nothing left for her to live for, the truth is that Bronwen’s suicide attempt didn’t succeed and that she made another mistake that she wants Alison to help her to change. Bronwen attempted to kill herself by going to a cave by the sea during a terrible storm, planning to allow herself to drown, but when the water started rising, she became too frightened and decided to leave by a secret entrance to the cave. Not knowing that Bronwen was safe, Catrin attempted to save her and drowned in the cave herself. As Bronwen was climbing to safety, she heard Catrin calling for her but was too frightened of the storm and angry at Catrin to go back for her. Although Bronwen lived on after the incident, she could never get rid of her guilt at Catrin’s death, realizing that, even in the middle of her resentment toward Catrin, Catrin loved her more than she knew, even to the point of giving up her own life while attempting to save hers.

Now, the anniversary of Catrin’s death is approaching, and so is a storm very much like the one that killed her. At the top of the cliff by the cave, Alison finds her time merging with Bronwen’s, and she will only have one chance to help Bronwen make the right decision the second time around. Helping Bronwen to prevent the worst mistake of her life and to make a better choice also helps Alison to reconsider her own choices and future. Just as Bronwen misjudged Catrin, Alison may have also misjudged Meiriona. Instead of losing her father or being forced to accept a poor substitute for her mother, Alison may be gaining a kind of sister who will love her more than she realizes.

Posted on November 3, 2017December 17, 2018 by TracyC

A Ghost in the House

GhostInTheHouse A Ghost in the House by Betty Ren Wright, 1991.

At first, Sarah Prescott enjoyed her family’s new house. The house wasn’t really new. Other members of Sarah’s family had lived there before, but it was the first place where Sarah hadn’t had to share a room with her younger brother. Then, Sarah’s Great-Aunt Margaret came to live with them, and everything changed, in more ways than one.

Aunt Margaret is the one who actually owns the house where Sarah and her family are living. She’s is elderly and sick and has been living in a nursing home. The rent that Sarah’s parents pay her pays for her care at the nursing home. However, Aunt Margaret has been doing a little better, and she would like to come and live with the family. Having her move in with the family would not only be good for her but for them because Sarah’s father has been in and out of work, and Aunt Margaret wouldn’t charge them rent or at least not much if they all lived together and they helped to take care of her. However, it would mean some sacrifice on Sarah’s part.

Aunt Margaret had once slept in the beautiful room that Sarah has been using, and Sarah must give it up for her now that she will be living with them. It’s difficult for her to deal with, but Sarah is also restricted on when she can have friends over because Aunt Margaret needs her rest, and the family’s lack of money means that Sarah won’t be able to go to the concert that everyone at school as been talking about. These family problems and teen angst could be bad enough, but from the moment that Aunt Margaret moves in, strange and frightening things start happening that only Sarah and her aunt ever witness.

Whenever Sarah and Aunt Margaret are alone in the house, rooms get cold, and Sarah hears weird things like footsteps walking around when no one should be there and a girl’s voice singing that particularly unnerves her aunt. Sometimes, Aunt Margaret’s things are moved around or broken, and there is something mysterious about an old painting that has been in the house for years. Over time, Sarah begins to notice that the painting darkens, and sometimes she can see a man in the painting who wasn’t there before. The presence of the painting also upsets Aunt Margaret, although she refuses to say why. Although Aunt Margaret at first suspects that Sarah is the cause of some of the weird things that are happening, Aunt Margaret is the actual cause, and she is afraid to admit the dark secret from her past that has come back to haunt her.

A long time ago, when she was young, Aunt Margaret had a best friend called Anne, whose father painted the mysterious painting. Anne had a very unhappy home life, and when the opportunity arose for Margaret’s family to adopt her, Margaret wasn’t sure if she wanted to share her home with her friend, although she cared for her a great deal. Because of her hesitation, her parents decided not to adopt Anne. In her old age, she admits that she was a spoiled girl. Unfortunately, her friend went to live with other relatives and ended up dying in a fire, so Margaret never had a chance to make things right with her. Although Anne’s death was a freak accident, Margaret felt guilty because Anne would have lived if her family had adopted her. Anne’s father also blamed Margaret and her family for not doing more for his daughter, although it was his drunkenness and violence that ruined his home life and led him to give up his daughter in the first place. Before he died, he threatened revenge against the family in some way. Now, his vengeful spirit has found a way to use the old painting to reach Margaret once again, and unless Sarah can find a way to stop him, he will make sure that Margaret joins Anne in death . . . and possibly Sarah, too. However, there is also Anne’s spirit to consider. In life, Anne was the only person who ever stood up to her father. Would she be willing to do it one more time for Margaret’s sake?

Part of the story is about being willing to sacrifice for the ones you love. Years ago, Margaret hesitated to give up some of her pampered life for her best friend, and she regretted it forever after. Sarah also comes to see how her earlier worries about giving up her room and about sleepovers and concerts were petty when compared to helping a relative who loves her. She also sees how it’s important to do the right thing when there’s time because sometimes there is no opportunity to do it later.

In a way, I felt like the problem was solved rather easily, but there were some pretty scary incidents in the story and a failed attempt to get rid of the painting that brought some suspense.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on November 1, 2017March 10, 2026 by TracyC

The Dollhouse Murders

The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright, 1983.

Amy is upset because she constantly has to look after her sister Louann, who has developmental problems. Louann is only a year younger than Amy, but her condition makes her think and act like a small child all the time. Amy loves Louann, but having her around all the time makes it difficult for her do things on her own and to make friends. It’s frustrating because the girls’ mother doesn’t seem to understand the pressure Amy feels.

One day, she has an argument with her mother about it and runs away to her aunt’s house. Aunt Clare normally lives in Chicago, but she has returned to her home town to sort out the things in her grandparents’ old house. Sympathizing with Amy, Aunt Clare offers Amy the chance to stay with her for a couple of weeks, without Louann.

Aunt Clare and her brother, Amy’s father, used to live with their grandparents when they were young, and Aunt Clare says that she has unhappy memories of that time. While helping her aunt go through some of the old things in the house, Amy discovers that there is a dollhouse in the attic made to look exactly like the grandparents’ house and dolls which look like the grandparents, Clare, and her brother. Amy thinks the dollhouse is wonderful, but Aunt Clare seems to find it disturbing.

When Aunt Clare refuses to talk about her deceased grandparents, Amy looks at some old newspapers at the library to learn more about them. To her shock, she learns that they were murdered in the house and that the killer was never found. Soon, strange things begin happening with the dollhouse. The dolls move around on their own, mysterious lights appear, and crying noises can be heard. The dolls seem to be acting out the events of the night of the murder. After all this time, the dolls seem to be trying to tell them something, if they have the courage to listen.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive (multiple copies). There was a movie version of this book made in 1992 (Sometimes called Secrets in the Attic), but it’s difficult to find copies of it now. Sometimes, the movie or clips of it appear on YouTube. Apart from that, it’s very difficult to see it.

My Reaction and Spoilers

I remember liking this book when I was a kid, although I was often a timid kid who was easily scared by scary stories. I think it was the mystery angle, solving the old murder, that intrigued me the most, although I also enjoyed the characters in the story. I felt impatient with both Amy and her mother at times, but I liked the way the family eventually worked through their problems and came to understand each other better.

Aside from revealing the murderer’s true identity, the dolls settle other troubling matters in Amy’s family. For years, Aunt Clare has blamed herself for the way she behaved around the time her grandparents were killed. She was afraid that something she did might have even led to their deaths. But, none of it was really her fault, and her grandparents want her to know that she needn’t blame herself anymore. In some ways, I felt a little cheated by the answer to the murder mystery because the murderer is a person we never see and who has been dead for years, so there was no way readers could have known it was him, and he is never brought to justice. However, learning the identity of the murderer is important because it gives Aunt Clare some closure. When Aunt Clare realizes the truth, she feels like a great weight has been lifted from her. She begins coming to terms with her past and appears to be headed for a better future.

Amy also comes to terms with her sister’s condition and values her even more highly when Louann’s lack of fear of the dollhouse gives Amy the courage to see the dolls’ final message. Louann might have been less scared by the dolls than Amy was because Amy understands more of the situation behind the haunting, but the dolls aren’t actually malicious, and there’s no need for the girls to be afraid. Louann is a tender-hearted girl who loves the dolls and dollhouse immediately, and Amy finds that Louann’s willingness to see what the dolls have to show them gives her comfort and courage. Because Aunt Clare understand the feeling of guilt, she helps Amy to see that some of the ways that her mother behaves regarding Louann, babying her a little too much and trying to make Amy more responsible for her, also come from a feeling of guilt. There was nothing Amy’s mother could have done that would have changed Louann’s condition, but Amy’s mother feels guilty anyway. Her guilt is a problem because she’s been holding Louann back from experiences that would help her develop more and give Amy a little more freedom from having to look after Louann so much. In the end, Amy’s family does make changes to help Louann become a little more independent and to allow Amy a little more independence of her own.

Posted on October 18, 2017October 1, 2021 by TracyC · 4 Comments

The Headless Cupid

The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, 1971.

This is the first book in the Stanley Family Mysteries series. Some people might be put off by the occult themes in this book, but this is a mystery story, and all is not what it seems. Read to the end or skip to the spoilers section to find out.

Eleven-year-old David Stanley has had to help take care of his younger siblings since his mother’s death. In some ways, he feels like his mother knew that she was dying before anyone else did, preparing David to help his father by taking care of his younger sister Janie and the young twins, Esther and Blair. David thinks that his mother might have been psychic because she tended to believe in some odd things and often knew things before other people did.

Now David’s father, a college professor, has remarried, to a divorced woman with a daughter of her own, Amanda, who is twelve years old. David likes his new stepmother, Molly, who is an artist, and he appreciates having someone else to help take care of the other kids. Amanda is a different story. She was an only child before her mother’s remarriage, and she’s not happy to suddenly have step-siblings, some of whom are rather young. Amanda has been unhappy in general since her parents’ divorce, and she wishes that she could go to live with her father full time. Her father says that he can’t take care of her because he has to work so much, but he spoils her whenever they spend time together. David has doubts about the things Amanda says about her father, but he and the others try to make her welcome in their new home.

HeadlessCupidNews With their family suddenly much larger, David’s father bought a new house for them to live in. Actually, it’s a very old house just outside of a small town. People call it the Westerly house after the former owners. Not long after the family moves in, they find out that people used to say that the Westerly house was haunted. Mr. and Mrs. Westerly used to travel around the world with their two daughters because Mr. Westerly worked for the government, but after they settled down to a quieter life in this small town in the late 1800s, strange things started happening in their house. Rocks would fly around the house, seemingly thrown by invisible hands, and someone (or something) cut the head off the carved cupid on the fancy staircase banister. The head was never found. These incidents were reported in the local paper, and people believed that the Westerly family was haunted by a poltergeist. These hauntings seemed to center around the two Westerly girls, particularly the older one, Harriette, which made some people think that the girls were faking the poltergeist. However, they were never able to catch either of the girls doing anything. The strange activities finally ended when the girls were sent away to boarding school, but now that the Stanleys have moved into the house, strange things are starting to happen again.

HeadlessCupidAmanda Amanda is fascinated by stories of the poltergeist. A friend of hers where she used to live (one her mother didn’t approve of) was teaching her about the occult and how to do magic spells. When David tells Amanda that he thought that his mother was psychic, Amanda is surprised, and she offers to teach David and the other kids about magic over the summer. David eagerly accepts the offer because he finds the subject fascinating and because it’s the only thing that Amanda really seems interested in. The other kids are also fascinated at the idea, even the littlest ones, which takes Amanda by surprise. She had expected them to be scared.

Still, Amanda begins leading the kids through a series of rituals that will supposedly initiate them into the occult world, all of which have to be done in secrecy, without the parents’ knowledge. They have to do some bizarre things like spend an entire day not talking (they have to take turns so the adults won’t notice, and it’s harder for some kids than others), spend a day where they can’t touch anything metal (mealtimes are awkward), offer “sacrifices” to the spirits (basically giving Amanda things she likes), and find animals to be their “familiars.” As some of these rituals and the kids’ strange, secretive behavior cause problems, particularly for David’s stepmother, David begins to suspect that Amanda’s “rituals” have an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with magic at all. Then, the poltergeist activity begins.

HeadlessCupidKids Just as with the Westerly family years ago, rocks are thrown around the house or found just laying around. Things are broken in the middle of the night. Have Amanda’s rituals somehow awoken the poltergeist once more? David has his doubts, suspecting that it’s part of Amanda’s playacting, but she is accounted for when some of these strange things happen. The younger kids are still more fascinated than frightened by these strange happenings, but their stepmother finds them particularly unnerving.

Then, just when David thinks that he understands the situation and Amanda seems to be calming down her occult talk and behaving more normally, something happens which is really inexplicable: the missing head of the cupid suddenly reappears.

This is a Newbery Honor Book. It is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction, Themes, and Spoilers

The reason why I want to explain some of this is because I think this book has received some unfair criticism because of the “occult” themes in the book, and I want to clarify the situation for the benefit of parents and teachers who have not yet read the book and may be concerned. I’m putting “occult” in quotes because, as I said before, that’s not really what’s going on. The book is a mystery story, and the “supernatural” stuff is largely window dressing for the real themes of the story, which have to do with unresolved feelings and revenge. The story even contains a kind of warning about getting involved with the occult, which is another reason why I think the criticism of this book is unfair.

That Amanda is faking at least part of the haunting is pretty obvious even early on, so I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to say that. Amanda is an unhappy girl whose life abruptly changed with her mother’s remarriage, and her occult talk and fake witchcraft are part of her way of dealing with her feelings. She admits to David at the end of the story that she was purposely trying to frighten her mother, trying to “get even” with her for turning her life upside down, first by divorcing her father and then by getting married again, forcing Amanda to move to a strange town where she has no friends and live with a bunch of kids she hardly knows. Getting to know her new siblings better and sharing adventures with them helps, but it takes the frightening moment when the cupid’s head suddenly reappears to get Amanda to admit that real occult stuff scares her, too, and to confess the truth of what she did and her real feelings to her mother.

HeadlessCupidDavidAmanda There are some elements of the happenings, particularly the reappearance of the cupid’s head, that are never fully explained, although David ends up knowing more than Amanda by the end. Some aspects of the situation are hinted at. There may be a real supernatural event at the end of the story. Blair appears to have inherited psychic abilities from his mother, and there is a distinct possibility that the Westerly sisters who once lived in the house were just as unhappy with their parents for the changes in their lives as Amanda was with her mother. Although the “poltergeist” as it first appears doesn’t exist, it may be that the “poltergeist” of the past remembers what it was like to be young and unhappy and that she wanted to make amends for past wrongs and to help another troubled young girl to make peace with her life and family. But, if you don’t like that explanation, there is a more conventional, non-supernatural explanation that David considers, which equally possible. Personally, I think it’s a combination of the two, but it’s not completely clear. I think the author left it open-ended like that to make readers wonder and to preserve the air of mystery after the other mysteries have been cleared up.

As a kid, I enjoyed the creepy aspects of the story and the sense of wonder the kids experience as they go through their “rituals,” trying to bring some magic to their regular lives, wondering if things like ghosts and magic can really exist. Now, I more appreciate how Amanda researched tricks used by fake psychics and mediums and used them creatively to her advantage. When I was a kid, I liked magic tricks, and psychics and mediums make use of those types of stage illusions and psychological tricks in their acts. I still have some books on the subject myself. I also like the way David sensed the truth behind Amanda and the strange happenings even though he didn’t really understand how or why it was done at first. David has some genuine curiosity about magic, but even after he realized that Amanda was faking things and was disappointed by it, he didn’t immediately tell the others. He could have unmasked her as a fraud, but he knew that would only earn her resentment. He wanted to understand her motives and help her feel better, giving her the chance to make peace with her mother herself and become part of their family.

This book has been frequently challenged because of the children’s inquiries into the occult, but I would like to point out that their “occult” experiments were all fake, pretty obviously so, and it is acknowledged that Amanda’s interest in the occult was fueled by her emotional distress (part of her urge to “get even” with her mother by causing problems). By the end of the story, Amanda and her mother have an honest talk with each other about everything. Amanda admitts her true feelings and makes peace with her mother, and she also says that her mother explained some things that Amanda didn’t know before. The book doesn’t say exactly what Amanda’s mother told her, but from the context, it’s probably something about the circumstances behind her parents’ divorce, something that they might not have wanted to explain to her earlier. I have a theory about it, although there’s nothing explicit that I could point to to prove it. I suspect that Amanda’s father had an affair and that the affair is continuing, which I think is the real reason why he doesn’t want Amanda to live with him full time. If Amanda were to live at his house, she would be sure to find out the truth. Maybe his girlfriend is even the housekeeper Amanda referred to, the one who doesn’t help take care of children because she’s “not that kind of housekeeper.” That possibility didn’t occur to me when I was a kid, but it seems kind of odd for a single man, living without children or other people in his house or other household staff to manage and who spends a large amount of time working away from home, to even have a housekeeper instead of simply hiring a maid or cleaning service to come in from time to time. Households with fewer people require less maintenance. There is less laundry to do, and single people who work tend to eat out or order in pretty often or make very simple meals, so I doubt he even needs much help with cooking. But, that’s just my theory. No one ever says why Amanda’s parents divorced in the story. The reasons are less important to the story than Amanda’s feelings concerning the divorce. Some of Amanda’s earlier resentment toward her mother was fueled by things that her father told her, making it seem like her mother was the one who caused the divorce. After talking with her mother, Amanda seems to realize that some of the nasty things that her father said about her mother may not have been true and that her resentment toward her mother for causing the divorce was needless. Much of the story involves unresolved feelings and the need to communicate them honestly.

The difference between reality and perceptions is also important to the story. Although Amanda at first tries to convince the other kids that she is an expert on all things magic, David soon realizes that she’s not: she acts like ordinary, easily-identifiable wild flowers are rare herbs, she can’t control her “familiar” because she has no idea how to handle animals, and when things happen that Amanda can’t explain, she’s the first to be terrified. In the end, Amanda gives up on the idea of the occult completely, realizing that the things she did were wrong and that she had gotten involved in something that she really didn’t want to be involved in. Many kids wonder about the supernatural when they’re young, and I don’t think it’s bad to point out to them that they if they experiment with such things, they may be getting involved in something they could regret and that they should consider their motives for wanting to do so. Playacting when you know it’s pretend is one thing, but not knowing if the scary stuff is real is another.

For further discussion of the dynamics of the blended family in this story, I recommend the SSR Podcast about this book. The podcast also points out that there is an incident in this story which might be racially problematic.

Anti-Plagiarism Check

I’ve been thinking about how my reviews could be used for plagiarism ever since I caught a couple of those essay-writing companies trying to follow my blog. It’s difficult for me to review certain books without giving spoilers, but I’d like to point out that none of my reviews explain everything there is to know about the stories. That would be completely impossible without reprinting the entire text of the book, which plagiarists are too lazy to read anyway. There are certain plot points which only a person who has actually read the book would understand and be able to explain. Teachers who suspect that a student has plagiarized a book review or only pretended to read the book should ask them to verbally explain the points that I have not covered in my review, giving them no chance to try to look up the answers elsewhere or try to find them by quickly skimming the book. I’m not going to print suggestions for questions to ask here because I don’t want to give the plagiarists a hint, and I doubt that teachers who have read the book recently themselves would really need a hint, but any teacher who contacts me via their official school e-mail address can discuss it with me. I know these stories well because I’ve loved them for years, and I’ve started a file with suggested plot points to discuss. I will not send this information to anyone who does not contact me from an official school e-mail address. Keep in mind that I can easily look up the name of the person who contacts me to determine whether I’ve been contacted by a teacher or a student.

It’s one thing for a student to want to discuss the book with someone to clarify confusing plot points, but it’s another to ask someone to do their homework for them. I know the difference, and I know homework when I see it. Let me explain something. All WordPress blogs have built-in analytics, and I’ve been studying SEO, so I pay attention to who has been visiting my site and how they get there. I know whether you came here by using a search engine or whether you were referred by another site, and I can also see search terms that you used. I added this note to this review specifically because I noticed that someone has been trying to Google what are plainly homework questions, and I just got a site referral from an online plagiarism checker. Yeah, I see what you did there. This is the Information Age, and when you go looking for information, sometimes, there’s someone else looking back at you, even if you can’t see them. Not everyone with a blog pays that kind of attention to their traffic, but some of us do, and while some may not say anything about it, some of us are also a little more vocal. I saw what you did, and I didn’t like it. I don’t know you, but I know you’re a fool, and your teacher has just discovered it, too. Now, we’re all aware. It’s your own fault, and it’s too late to whine about it now. I do sometimes help people who ask for it. You should have asked for help when you needed it instead of cheating and stealing my words. Maybe next time you’ll ask for what you need instead of just taking what you want.

Posted on October 16, 2017October 5, 2021 by TracyC · 2 Comments

Midnight Magic

Midnight Magic by Avi, 1999.

The story takes place in Italy, toward the end of the Middle Ages. Mangus, a formerly wealthy scholar and philosopher, is living under house arrest because the king believes that he has practiced black magic. Mangus was merely performing magic tricks to earn extra money, and in fact, does not believe in real magic. However, the king is very superstitious and easily influenced by his scheming advisor, Count Scarazoni, who needed a scapegoat to distract everyone from his schemes. Unfortunately, many people in the kingdom of Pergamontio believe that Mangus is a real magician with frightful powers. Even Fabrizio, an orphan who is Mangus’s only remaining servant, believes that magic really exists.

When a messenger arrives, summoning Mangus to the castle to see the king, they are afraid that the king has reconsidered his decision to spare Mangus’s life. However, it turns out that the king is in need of Mangus’s help. He believes that his young daughter, Princess Teresina, is being tormented by a ghost, and he wants Mangus to use his magic to get rid of it.

Mangus again protests that he does not do real magic, but both the king and Count Scarazoni promise dire consequences if he fails to help them deal with the problem. Mangus isn’t sure why Count Scarazoni has asked for his help because he knows that the count doesn’t really believe in magic, except perhaps as a way of appeasing the king. The king promises that if Mangus can free the princess from the influence of the ghost, he will not only end Mangus’s house arrest but reward him with a generous pension. Mangus has little choice but to agree to do his best, and the promise of the pension for his master convinces Fabrizio to do everything he can to make sure that Mangus succeeds, not only to save his master’s life but to restore his family’s fortunes.

But, what is the secret of the ghost? Fabrizio believes in ghosts, even though Mangus doesn’t. Princess Teresina insists that the ghost is real, appealing directly to Fabrizio to convince Mangus that it is. Adding to the mystery is the disappearance of the princess’s brother, Prince Lorenzo, and the murder of the princess’s tutor. Danger lurks in the castle, and conspiracies are around every corner. Could the troubled spirit really belong to the murdered prince?

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.