Ghost Soldier - Hardcover

Alphin, Elaine Marie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805061584 ISBN 13: 9780805061581

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2001

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.

Ghost Soldier is a nominee for the 2002 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery.

About this title

Review:

Alexander has always been able to see ghosts, but no one except his mom--who left suddenly three years ago--has ever believed his stories. So when his dad drags him off on a trip to North Carolina to visit the woman he intends to marry, and Alexander begins to see visions of Civil War soldiers, he tells nobody--not his father, nor his hostess Paige, and certainly not her teenage daughter, Nicole. Instead he devotes himself to being unpleasant, clinging desperately to the belief that his mother will return.

The visions grow more and more real. Alexander even finds himself participating in a battle in the trenches, with mortars whizzing overhead. In the midst of his own terror, he witnesses the death of a young Confederate soldier his own age. Later that evening Richeson, the dead boy, appears again to Alexander, appealing to him for help in finding his sister, who was driven from their farm by Sherman's Marauders, but who has left a message for her brother in a metal box hidden in a tree trunk--a box that a ghost cannot open. In the course of solving Richeson's mystery, Alexander finds answers to his own problems. Middle-grade readers will enjoy this story that straddles three genres, and teachers will find its grounding in the actual events of the Battle of Fort Stedman a useful curriculum tie-in. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell

About the Author:

Elaine Marie Alphin is the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Ghost Cadet and Counterfeit Son. Elaine lives in Madison, Indiana.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0805061584
• ISBN 13: 9780805061581
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216