The Ghost Inside the Monitor - Softcover

Anderson has packed a lot of story into this short book. A tale that seems to write itself on a computer screen is the gateway that takes 11-year-old Sarah Pearce back into the time of a young ghost named Pascale. Sarah's family has just moved to a small town in central Oregon, and Sarah soon becomes immersed in the story and then in the life of a young girl who lived in the town some 85 years before. Sarah begins to learn about the community and to make new friends, and almost loses her life when she helps the ghost find her lost home and keep a promise made long ago. Anderson is at home with the Oregon setting, and is in firm control of both the time-travel fantasy and the historical elements of the plot, attending carefully to detail and leaving no loose ends. Space limitations are more evident in characterizations. The two girls are well drawn, but secondary characters have less definition. Ghost-story fans will enjoy the book, and the atmosphere of an earlier time is a bonus. --Tatiana Castleton, Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, CA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Sarah is resigned to spending a long, lonely summer helping out at her father's new computer store. Deciding to make the best of it, she begins writing her autobiography, only to find that her text disappears and is replaced by the life story of a long-deceased girl named Pascale. Convinced that Pascale's ghost haunts the computer store, Sarah and her new friend Jeff make plans to lay the wandering spirit to rest. The author of Searching for Shona proves once again that she can start with an improbable idea, explore its possibilities and end up with a credible novel. Unfortunately, while this is certainly a pleasantly creepy ghost story, it lacks the singular voice that made her earlier novel so engrossing. That book's heroine was as memorable as the unusual circumstances in which she was involved; Sarah and the ghostly Pascale pale in comparison to the eerie events that bring them together. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.