Ghosted - Hardcover

Margolis, Leslie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374307563 ISBN 13: 9780374307561

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2018

Synopsis

Ellie Charles ghosted her best friend―and her actions come back to haunt her. A heartwarming and funny middle-grade story of redemption from Leslie Margolis.

Thirteen-year-old Ellie Charles has everything going for her: she’s the smartest, prettiest, best-dressed, and most popular kid at Lincoln Heights Middle School. She’s also the meanest, by design. Ellie’s got sharp edges, which she uses to keep herself at the top of the social food chain. But one night, hours before her school’s winter dance, a frightening accident leads her to encounter a ghost who just might change everything. This ghost, of a girl dressed all in black, makes Ellie visit her own past, present, and future―reliving her parents’ divorce, her struggles in school, and worst of all, her massive falling-out with her best friend, Marley. Can what Ellie sees inspire her to change her ways? And is a new perspective enough to save her life?

About this title

About the Author

Leslie Margolis is the author of many books for young readers, including We Are Party People, If I Were You, the Maggie Brooklyn Mysteries, and the Annabelle Unleashed series. Leslie lives in Los Angeles with her family.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-Ellie Charles has been best friends with Marley Winters since they were babies. They have perfect families Ellie has a mom and a dad, and Marley has her two dads. They are both happy and life is good. Then, at age eight, Ellie's parents separate and her dad moves out of the house two days before Christmas. Ellie's world flips upside down and she makes up her mind to never be weak or show emotions for others. She believes that to be successful, one needs to fit in with the right crowd, be mean, and have very little regard for others' feelings. She is successful in doing just that and becomes the most feared and most popular girl in her middle school. In so doing, Ellie forgets the traditions she and her mother have had through years-making sourdough bread together and spending time with Marley's family. The new Ellie humiliates her best friend and even "ghosts" her. Because of this, Marley and her dads move out of the neighborhood, and she transfers to a new school. When an accident happens, it forces Ellie to relive her life and to see herself through new eyes, reminiscent of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The "Girl in Black" takes Ellie through her life's journey, from beginning and gives her a glimpse of her future. Ellie is not impressed with what she sees and must act to change the course of her future. An interesting take on a classic narrative, though the first half of the book is slow. For readers who stick with it, the ending is well earned and satisfying. VERDICT A secondary purchase or where libraries are in need of more middle grade fiction about friendship trouble and bullying.-Valentine Muyumba, Terre Haute, Indiana State Universityα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0374307563
• ISBN 13: 9780374307561
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256