Among the Ghosts
Gr 4-6-So that he can explore the Appalachians, Noleen Maypother's scientist father sends her off to her Aunt Clara's for the summer-apparently without checking his sister's availability first. Noh arrives to find a vacant house and decides to take the train to New Newbridge, where her other aunt teaches at the academy. Since Noh will be a sixth grader there in the fall, it seems a logical solution. Aunt Sarah welcomes her and helps her get settled into the old boarding school. But as soon as she arrives, strange things start happening: she meets other children around the ruins of the burned-out West Wing and discovers that they are the ghosts of former students and that she is the only "realie" who can see them. And when her ghost friends start to disappear, it is up to her to solve the mystery and help the ghosts who are left. Benson incorporates some creative ingredients but fails to combine them in a satisfying way. The characters are two-dimensional, the dialogue is stilted, and the plotline so far-fetched and meandering that even the ghosts and the "nasty thing" that lurks in the background will fail to keep most students' attention. Occasional black-and-white drawings are scattered throughout and add nothing to the story. Readers with an interest in the paranormal are better directed to books by Mary Downing Hahn or to Elizabeth Cody Kimmel's "Suddenly Supernatural" series (Little, Brown).-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA (c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.