Out of the Dark

Wright, Betty Ren

ISBN 10: 0590435981 ISBN 13: 9780590435987

Publisher: Scholastic, 1995

Synopsis

A young girl struggles with conflicts in family relationships and loyalties until she becomes the target of a vengeful ghost who makes her fear that she will lose everything she ever cared about. By the author of A Ghost in the House.

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Reviews

Grade 5-8?Looking for a fresh start, Jessie and her parents have recently moved to her grandmother's rural home, but her enjoyment of the house is marred by nightmares that are chillingly real. Her parents' frustrations with unemployment have put a strain on the whole family, and she doesn't feel able to share her terror as the threatening ghost of her dreams begins to appear while she is awake. Her grandmother's girlhood diaries seem to provide a clue to the reason for the phantom's hatred and jealousy, but they end before she can solve the mystery. When she and her prickly friend Toni are trapped in a vault in an old schoolhouse, Jessie fears that the ghost's anger will be her end. Relationships built on well-defined characters add realism to this supernatural tale. Effective and well crafted, this horror novel will please Wright's many fans and should win her some new ones.?Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Surprisingly, this thriller by a writer known for her ability to raise hairs (The Ghosts of Mercy Manor; The Dollhouse Murders) is more successful with its down-to-earth themes than with its supernatural elements. Jessica Belland's family has moved into her grandmother's house in the Wisconsin countryside, where her out-of-work parents need pay no rent. Mrs. Belland finds a low-wage clerical position, but Jessica's father struggles to write a book: "Just thinking of the thick pack of white paper waiting next to the typewriter on the screened-in side porch was enough to give Jessie goosebumps." These real-life worries prove rather more unsettling than Jessie's nightmares and eventual sightings of a prim and pretty phantom in an abandoned schoolhouse. Wright raises some interesting questions that are particularly relevant to her readers-whether to cheat on tests, how to continue a friendship with a difficult, angry girl and the special bond between a grandmother and her granddaughter. However, the main project of this novel is the heavy-handed suspense tale of a ghost out for revenge, and no room is left to develop other matters to real satisfaction. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4-6. The decision to live in her beloved grandmother's home in the country isn't turning out to be the splendid change Jessica Belland had anticipated. Her mother is unhappy; her father is preoccupied with the book he's writing; and Jessie's having terrible nightmares--all of which center on a strange old schoolhouse and a frightening woman with blond hair, who, for some inexplicable reason, seems bent on harming Jessie. The plot becomes strained, especially when the ghost inexplicably changes her haunting venue, and Jessie's final confrontation with the spirit is just too pat; still, Wright nicely avoids overt violence, and her timing is excellent--she knows just when to turn away from Jessie's earthbound concerns about family and her new acquaintance, Toni, to call up the tantalizing supernatural. Stephanie Zvirin

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590435981
• ISBN 13: 9780590435987
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 149