Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, 2009
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Paranormal, YA
Rating: 4 pints of blood
Ok, aside from reminding me far too strongly of the Ghost Whisperer tv show, it just looks oddly photoshopped. And does the ghost's hand just kind of disappear into nothingness? There's just a head and a hand there, and the rest of the body is hanging out back there, but there doesn't seem to be an arm or anything attached to that hand. I dunno, I'd be pretty disturbed to have a random floating hand all on my head like that, but from the look of things the chick on the cover is completely unaware of what's going on. Probably for the best.
Also, I feel like the binder in the chick's hand should be the focal point, since the red stands out so vividly against all the blues. Wouldn't it have worked better to put the girl in red so I'm looking at her instead of the binder?
Megan Crewe is a Canadian author and this is her debut novel. Which of course meant I had to read it. Also, ghosts are a refreshing change of pace.
Ever since her older sister died four years ago, Cass has been able to see and talk to ghosts. This, combined with a few other things, makes her different from the kids at school, an eternal outsider. She doesn't really mind, though, since she knows people are jerks and teenagers doubly so. She's much better off keeping her distance from the "breathers," and besides, ghosts are so much more interesting. They see and hear everything that goes on, and keep Cass informed. As a result, Cass has the dirt on everyone, and a knack for bringing it up at the most inopportune times. She sees herself on the side of justice, exposing the poseurs so everyone can see what they really are.
Then the popular Tim, vice president of the student council starts seeking her out. His mother died recently, and for some reason he seems to suspect Cass could help him out. Cass has no interest in being used by someone like him, who uses tragedy to gain sympathy and popularity from the female population of the school, and she really doesn't intend to let her secret out. The more she sees of Tim, though, the more she starts to think this could work to her advantage: being so well-liked, Tim probably has all sorts of dirt the ghosts at school can't dig up for Cass. And when he's not surrounded by his obnoxious student council friends, he's not really so bad. Helping him make contact with his mother might not be such a sacrifice, after all. And who knows? She might even discover she likes hanging out with the occasional breather.
There's been an influx of "softer" urban fantasy in YA recently, and Give Up the Ghost fits in there nicely. Instead of featuring a tough chick in leather pants who kicks beasties in the name of girl power, we've got a misunderstood outcast in high school with inexplicable supernatural abilities. Most of the focus is on Cass's struggles to relate to others, a battle that sounds familiar to teenagers everywhere. Cass is an extreme example of the loner, a victim of vicious teenage rumours, but a strong and likeable protagonist. She's convinced herself she doesn't care what people think and she doesn't care about having friends, and while her standoffish attitude might have driven me nuts in an adult character, it made sense for a teenage girl. (Ok, it probably also helps that this isn't a 600-page doorstopper of a book.) Cass also has room to grow and change throughout the story, which she does, and a chance to learn that maybe shutting the entire world out isn't the best way to live through her life. There are, after all, a few disadvantages to being a ghost.
I also really liked that there's no magical solution to any of Cass's problems. She has to solve things on her own, and things don't all wrap up tidily. She's not suddenly the most popular girl in school after a heroic endeavor makes her supernatural abilities public, she can't bring her sister (or any of the other ghosts) back to life, her parents don't wake up one morning with the conclusion that she's already the best child they could ever hope to have. It takes work and slow progress, and actually gave me flashbacks to my own teen years. Really, this was a well-written slice of high school... with ghosts.
Parents of teens may want to note there are teenage suicide themes in here, but they're dealt with as a serious issue and adults are called in by the other kids when it becomes a problem, in spite of the teen in question's protests.
Give Up the Ghost will be available on September 16 in hardcover
.
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Paranormal, YA
Rating: 4 pints of blood
Ok, aside from reminding me far too strongly of the Ghost Whisperer tv show, it just looks oddly photoshopped. And does the ghost's hand just kind of disappear into nothingness? There's just a head and a hand there, and the rest of the body is hanging out back there, but there doesn't seem to be an arm or anything attached to that hand. I dunno, I'd be pretty disturbed to have a random floating hand all on my head like that, but from the look of things the chick on the cover is completely unaware of what's going on. Probably for the best.
Also, I feel like the binder in the chick's hand should be the focal point, since the red stands out so vividly against all the blues. Wouldn't it have worked better to put the girl in red so I'm looking at her instead of the binder?
Megan Crewe is a Canadian author and this is her debut novel. Which of course meant I had to read it. Also, ghosts are a refreshing change of pace.
Ever since her older sister died four years ago, Cass has been able to see and talk to ghosts. This, combined with a few other things, makes her different from the kids at school, an eternal outsider. She doesn't really mind, though, since she knows people are jerks and teenagers doubly so. She's much better off keeping her distance from the "breathers," and besides, ghosts are so much more interesting. They see and hear everything that goes on, and keep Cass informed. As a result, Cass has the dirt on everyone, and a knack for bringing it up at the most inopportune times. She sees herself on the side of justice, exposing the poseurs so everyone can see what they really are.
Then the popular Tim, vice president of the student council starts seeking her out. His mother died recently, and for some reason he seems to suspect Cass could help him out. Cass has no interest in being used by someone like him, who uses tragedy to gain sympathy and popularity from the female population of the school, and she really doesn't intend to let her secret out. The more she sees of Tim, though, the more she starts to think this could work to her advantage: being so well-liked, Tim probably has all sorts of dirt the ghosts at school can't dig up for Cass. And when he's not surrounded by his obnoxious student council friends, he's not really so bad. Helping him make contact with his mother might not be such a sacrifice, after all. And who knows? She might even discover she likes hanging out with the occasional breather.
There's been an influx of "softer" urban fantasy in YA recently, and Give Up the Ghost fits in there nicely. Instead of featuring a tough chick in leather pants who kicks beasties in the name of girl power, we've got a misunderstood outcast in high school with inexplicable supernatural abilities. Most of the focus is on Cass's struggles to relate to others, a battle that sounds familiar to teenagers everywhere. Cass is an extreme example of the loner, a victim of vicious teenage rumours, but a strong and likeable protagonist. She's convinced herself she doesn't care what people think and she doesn't care about having friends, and while her standoffish attitude might have driven me nuts in an adult character, it made sense for a teenage girl. (Ok, it probably also helps that this isn't a 600-page doorstopper of a book.) Cass also has room to grow and change throughout the story, which she does, and a chance to learn that maybe shutting the entire world out isn't the best way to live through her life. There are, after all, a few disadvantages to being a ghost.
I also really liked that there's no magical solution to any of Cass's problems. She has to solve things on her own, and things don't all wrap up tidily. She's not suddenly the most popular girl in school after a heroic endeavor makes her supernatural abilities public, she can't bring her sister (or any of the other ghosts) back to life, her parents don't wake up one morning with the conclusion that she's already the best child they could ever hope to have. It takes work and slow progress, and actually gave me flashbacks to my own teen years. Really, this was a well-written slice of high school... with ghosts.
Parents of teens may want to note there are teenage suicide themes in here, but they're dealt with as a serious issue and adults are called in by the other kids when it becomes a problem, in spite of the teen in question's protests.
Give Up the Ghost will be available on September 16 in hardcover
.