Synopsis
The ghost of a young soldier from the Civil War haunts a troubled teen.
"I sat up. The jagged trenches were only soft grassy depressions in the sunny battlefield park. I felt tears burn my eyes, the relief was so strong, and then the misery of losing the ghost hit me."
Alexander has the ability to see ghosts. But it's been several years since his last encounter. When he reluctantly joins his father on a long trip away from home, a surprise awaits him. In the unfamiliar territory of North Carolina, Alexander is confronted by the ghost of a young soldier who lost his life in the Civil War. As an unusual friendship develops between the two, Alexander is drawn into a new reality where he comes face to face with the haunting past of his soldier friend. But can Alexander help this troubled ghost, and can he, finally, come to terms with his own disturbing past? With deftness and insight, Elaine Marie Alphin tells a gripping story that weaves the supernatural with the historical. Ghost story fans and Civil War buffs alike are in for a real treat.
VOYA
In this fantasy narrated by fifteen-year-old Alexander Raskin, the story begins at the Hambrick home in North Carolina. Alexander and his father have traveled from Indiana to spend spring break with widow Hambrick and her two children—much to Alexander's disgust. Despite his mother's desertion and his parents' divorce, Alexander believes that his family will reunite. Things worsen when he discovers that his father intends to take a job in North Carolina and marry Ms. Hambrick. On a sight-seeing tour, Alexander, who has seen ghosts before, slips into a Civil War battle and meets Confederate Richeson Francis Chamblee, a boy his age who dies before Alexander's eyes. Chamblee recognizes Alexander as an "out-of-timer" able to help him discover what happened to his beloved sister, Louise. Chamblee haunts Alexander until he agrees to assist. They begin to look for a metal box that Louise placed inside a hollow tree in 1865, finally finding the box, a locket with a picture of Chamblee's mother, and an illegible message. Alexander, now enthused, devises a way to return to the night Louise deposited the box. In a dramatic scene, Alexander rescues Louise from Yankee soldiers and deciphers the message, learning that Ms. Hambrick's close friend is really Louise's great-granddaughter. Alexander is reconciled with his father, and the book ends with a happily blended family. Simple vocabulary, sentence structure, and plot make this time travel story suitable for upper elementary and middle school. Although some elements, such as transitions between times and characteristics of ghosts, are handled maladroitly, the book will entertain younger readers and will give some insight into the AmericanCivil War. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 200l, Henry Holt, 216p, $16.95. Ages 12 to 15. Reviewer: Laura Woodruff SOURCE: VOYA, August 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 3)