The Ghosts of Ashbury High - Softcover

Moriarty, Jaclyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0545069734 ISBN 13: 9780545069731

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2012

Synopsis

Bestselling author Jaclyn Moriarty returns to Ashbury High for a deliciously thrilling senior year!

This is the story of Amelia and Riley, bad kids from bad Brookfield High, who have transferred to Ashbury High for senior year. They've been in love since they were fourteen, they go out dancing every night and sleep through school all day. And Ashbury can't get enough of them.

But strange things are happening at Ashbury this year. Emily Thompson is certain that a ghost is haunting the Art Rooms. There are nonstop parties at Lydia Jaackson-Oberman's house. Toby Mazzerati has taken an unusually strong interest in local history. And the new kids are hiding a secret that could ruin more than just senior year.

Jaclyn Moriarty returns to Ashbury High for a story about ghosts, secrets, madness, locked doors, femmes fatales, and that terrifying moment in the final year of high school when you realize that the future's come to get you.

About this title

About the Author:

Jaclyn Moriarty grew up in Sydney, Australia, with 4 sisters, 1 brother, 2 dogs, and 12 chickens. She studied law at the University of Sydney, Yale, and Cambridge, and worked as an entertainment lawyer before she wrote the Ashbury High novels, including THE YEAR OF SECRET ASSIGNMENTS, THE MURDER OF BINDY MACKENZIE, and THE GHOSTS OF ASHBURY HIGH. She still lives in Sydney, with her little boy, Charlie.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 8 Up–This Australian author adds another volume to her sequence of novels centered around a private high school. When two mysterious new scholarship students begin their senior year at Ashbury High, suspicions arise. Amelia and Riley are clearly a couple with an unknown past, and Emily Thompson is determined to find out their secrets. Em is also convinced that there is a ghost haunting Ashbury, and with the (sometimes) help of her friends Lydia and Cassie, she makes the new couple and the ghost her projects for the year. Told in multiple voices through essays written by the students for their senior exam on gothic literature, emails, blog entries, and scholarship-committee meeting notes, the plot moves slowly with numerous side stories woven throughout. They all add up to tell several interconnected stories from a variety of perspectives in an imaginative manner. There is an air of mystery as readers wonder if there really is a ghost and exactly what Riley's and Amelia's past secrets are, but, overall, the suspense doesn't carry the story. Inclusions of humorous gothic elements throughout are pluses along with the ideas of giving second chances and leaving one's past behind. Readers expecting a spine-tingling tale of ghosts and intrigue are likely to be disappointed; this is more of an examination of high school friendships and social life. Those willing to stick with the sometimes slow-moving narrative will be satisfied in the end.Gina Bowling, South Gibson County High School, Medina, TN
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0545069734
• ISBN 13: 9780545069731
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496