Among the Ghosts

Spending the summer at school is a dreadful thought for most
kids, but Noleen-Anne (Noh for short) sees the opportunity as an
adventure. Noh is sent to stay with her aunt, a teacher at the
New Newbridge Academy, while her father heads to the
Appalachians. The first stop for the young explorer is a nearby
cemetery where she has a strange encounter with an old woman. The
woman actually throws a stone at the young girl. Under ordinary
circumstances, having a rock tossed at you would be an upsetting
event, but Noh is no ordinary girl. There is an evil eye carved
on the stone and, instead of being afraid, Noh decides the
carving is a good luck charm and keeps it her pocket. Her
exploration of the Academy reveals a series of mysterious events
involving disappearing ghosts, marching ants, floating white
balls and paths that always end at the beginning no matter which
direction you take to reach the other side. She is determined to
solve the puzzle and enlists the help of a former student who is
more stunned that Noh is a "realie" than Noh is in discovering,
with the aid of the evil eye stone, her ability to see and speak
with ghosts.

This is a quick paced adventure with fully developed characters, the amazing illustrations in black and white throughout the book by Sina Grace
and a well thought out plot. Lessons in bravery, social
interaction and perspective are told without being preachy or
bogging down the narrative flow.