The Ghost Sitter
Gr 4-6-Susie, 10, can't understand why her parents moved out of the house with her younger sister, Gloria, leaving her there alone. Other families move in and out, but they never pay any attention to her; only very young children ever notice her at all. Readers will quickly realize that Susie doesn't know she is dead, the victim of a firecracker accident 50 years ago. When Charlotte moves into the house with her parents and younger brother, she and her neighbor Shannon begin communicating with Susie, and Charlotte realizes that the ghost will only be able to stop haunting the house when she confronts the truth about her death. The idea of an invisible presence in the house, interacting with tiny children and causing puddles of cold air to form, is a spooky one, but this mild ghost story never induces more than a shiver or two. Most of the interest comes from Susie's own perceptions of her strange existence, as well as the new friendship between Charlotte and Shannon. What little tension exists-there seems to be some foreshadowing that harm might come to Charlotte's little brother-simply melts away at the end, which features an emotional meeting between the ghostly Susie and her now-adult sister. Readers who don't like their stories to get too scary will find plenty to enjoy here.Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public LibraryCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.