Graveyard Shift: (a Hauntings novel) - Softcover

Westwood, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0545399203 ISBN 13: 9780545399203

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks, 2014

Synopsis

A paranormal fantasy-adventure in which death is only the beginning.

Ill-mannered spooks and fearsome monsters populate the alternative London of this charming paranormal adventure.

When Ben Harvester meets the mysterious Mr. October in London's Highgate Cemetery, he has no idea what a strange and dramatic turn his life is about to take. But Ben soon discovers that Mr. October works for the Ministry of Pandemonium, a secret organization responsible for tracking down lost souls and guiding them to the afterlife. And Mr. October wants him to be his new recruit.

As Ben's apprenticeship begins, his eyes are opened to a new world of wonder -- a world where magic is real and ghosts haunt every crime scene, accident site, and hospital corridor. But with the wonder comes horror. Because the Ministry is not the only organization hunting spirits of the dead. The ghoulish Lords of Sundown want those spirits for their own sinister reasons. And as far as they're concerned, Ben's just chosen the wrong side in a very dangerous war.

About this title

About the Author

Chris Westwood was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, the son of a coal miner and a school teacher. He is the author of A Light in the Black, which was a runner up for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and Calling All Monsters. He now lives part of the time in his native West Yorkshire, part of the time in East London, and the rest of the time in a world of his own.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-A loner, more content to hang out sketching in graveyards than to hang out at the mall, Ben Harvester has trouble fitting in at school. It does not help that on his first day in a new school, he sees three ghosts in his classroom, beseeching him for help. It is through the intervention of mysterious Mr. October, whom he meets in London's Highgate Cemetery, that Ben learns he has a gift, to see and assist the dead pass on. As he becomes an apprentice in the Ministry of Pandemonium, he also becomes involved in an ongoing war between Mr. October's associates and a league of sinister malcontents intent on stealing lost souls for their own nefarious purposes. As his own powers grow, Ben actually feels more powerless, attempting to understand and accept his mother's cancer diagnosis. When her name appears on a list of the soon-to-be-deceased, though, he makes a decision that could jeopardize not only his position in the Ministry, but also the fate of many, many more souls. The intriguing world Mr. October inhabits sets the stage for a great ghost story. Though the book can stand alone, readers will find themselves longing for a sequel.-Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CTα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0545399203
• ISBN 13: 9780545399203
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304