ghostgirl

Charlotte Usher has been working hard all summer. But unlike other kids, she doesn't actually have a job. Instead, she's busy working on her Popular Plan. Her new mantra becomes: "This year is different. This is my year." The object of her desire? Damen Dylan. When she's randomly chosen to be Damen's lab partner in science class, she's convinced that her plan to win his affections is already in motion. But then she chokes on a gummy bear and nobody even notices. She dies all alone.

"Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I awake, I pray the popular attend my wake." Charlotte can't get popularity off her mind, even in death. Plus, she now has to go from a normal living high school ruled by the queen bee, Petula Kensington --- Damen's girlfriend (of course) --- to the dead kid school in the basement. Charlotte, along with the rest of the afterlife students, needs to graduate in order to move on from this in-between place.

The afterlife kids are in a school called Dead Ed, ruled by a Mr. Brain, who is there to teach them the lessons of Deadiquitte. But even in Dead Ed, Charlotte isn't winning anyone over. She only befriends Piccolo Pam, who desperately tries to teach Charlotte the dos and don'ts of being a ghostgirl.

Plus, Charlotte still can't get Damen off her mind. Then she has a brilliant idea. Using her new invisible status, she can follow him wherever he goes. She travels with him to his girlfriend Petula's house where she meets Scarlet, Petula's younger sister. Much to her surprise, she realizes that Scarlet --- in her funky, Goth glory --- is the only person who can actually see Charlotte.

Charlotte enlists Scarlet's help to snare some of Damen's attention and maybe, just maybe, finally get what she wants in the afterlife. But things are never as easy as they seem --- in life or in death.

GHOSTGIRL is a fun and quirky story that puts a whole new spin on the quest for popularity. Written by Tonya Hurley, a writer and acclaimed independent filmmaker, this debut novel packs a punch. The beautiful artwork and design add so much to the reading experience. This is a book that should not be missed, and I look forward to future installments of the series. RIP in popularity.

--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

The first thing that drew me to GHOSTGIRL is the cover. That silhouette cut-out on a jet-black cover with the pink ribbon and the pink splashes of color was designed to get that kind of attention. The bushy head of hair and the stick-thin cartoon body is provocative. The hardcover has some serious heft to it too, and I was intrigued by that as well when I had it in my hands.

Then I noticed the shape. The book isn't a comfortable rectangle like so many books are. Rather, it's elongated - almost coffin-shaped, you might say. And once that impression entered my head, that the girl on the cover was actually lying in a coffin, she haunted me. But I turned away from her and the story she was DYING to tell me.

I read a lot of YA books, but I tend to want to read BOY books rather than GIRL books. And GHOSTGIRL -- especially with that pink ribbon - screams GIRL. Turns out, I was right about that, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.

GHOSTGIRL is Tonya Hurley's first novel, but there are supposed to be more centered on this character. Seems dead young Miss Charlotte Usher (and you don't have to wonder long before you put that name and Edgar Allen Poe together) is going to have quite the afterlife.

Hurley is an independent filmmaker in addition to being a (now) bestselling author. She obviously has lots of experience with young girls, and a decidedly twisted view of life. And death.

I enjoyed Charlotte's short existence before her passing. After raising a teenaged girl myself, I knew how neurotic and strange they could be. Of course, to be fair, my daughter probably learned how strange fathers could be, so I consider the education a trade off. Charlotte, living and dead, is a treat and a true example of those humbling teen years that cost so dearly and scar so deeply.

Charlotte's painful realization that she's going to have to go to school even though she's dead is too funny. Apparently neither the living nor the dead can escape high school. Hurley handles the dead world and the living world with equal aplomb. But it isn't long before Charlotte starts breaking rules on both sides of the grave.

The pairing of Charlotte, who wanted to be as popular as her personal enemy, diva Petula, and goth girl Scarlet, who's also Petula's little sister, is inspired. Despite their differences, they get along. After all, they both have their issues with Petula. And I have to wonder if Charlotte and Scarlet were chosen because their names sounded so similar.

The story speeds along. Turning the pages is effortless. However, I was surprised at how much Scarlet stepped into the spotlight toward the end of the book. We almost lose Charlotte at times. But by that point I was reading the novel to see what happened next, which is where writers want readers spending their time.

The novel's progression doesn't ever take on any of the weightier problems in life. The story stays locked in just one step short of slapstick, and that's a fun place to be. I finished the novel in a sitting. Although I wasn't really surprised by any of the turn of events, I was satisfied and enjoyed several chuckles.

GHOSTGIRL is definitely a book for reluctant readers. It's fun and moves quickly. However, there's enough near-adult content that parents might want to read this one for themselves before handing it down to the 9-12 crowd.

The concept of this book is interesting and it's why I purchased it. I was remembering a book by Christopher Pike that I'd read around 10 or 12 years ago...I believe the title was "Remember Me." "Ghostgirl" sounded like it might be similarly interesting.

I was wrong.

As I said, the concept could have made for a great book, and that's the only reason I gave it two stars. Other than the fact that the author had an interesting idea, the book stinks. There may be a few very mild spoilers in this review, as I had to describe some specifics to get across a point; however, nothing major would be spoiled by reading (except maybe your desire to purchase the book).

Character development is slim to nil. Hurley gives us virtually nothing in background on any of her characters, including the main character Charlotte. I didn't like any of the characters, mainly due to the fact that I knew nothing beyond the most shallow of their motives for doing anything. Hurley does a lot of "telling" and very little "showing."

The level of language used in this book is appropriate for someone at about a 5th to 6th grade reading level; yet the content in the book would be entirely inappropriate for someone of that age. I wrote better than Hurley when I was 11 and I would be embarrassed to even show someone this book and say I wrote it now. The feeling the book gives is not that Hurley is trying to write at this level; more like she had a deadline to turn in her manuscript and wrote this book in a hurry the night before.

Cultural references are important, but Hurley mentions so many currently popular bands, Myspace, and other pop phonomena that it seems like she's name-dropping or trying to prove that she still "understands what it's like to be teenage girl." Her over-use of these references comes off as grasping at straws, trying to appeal to the "younger set."

There are often times when the plot just doesn't make sense, again giving the feeling that Hurley was writing the book the night before the deadline, just to get finished in time. Ideas are mentioned but not explained or fleshed out; specifically the concept of a prophesied "The One" that is mentioned once in the book until the end and is never explained in any way.

Finally, I think it's completely insulting to imply that all teenagers who die are too shallow and self-absorbed to miss their families. It's also an extremely obvious and pathetic way to write off the need to describe the families and the deeper emotions kids might be feeling upon death.

I never write reviews for anything, but I feel an obligation to write a review for ghostgirl. I purchased the book for my 13 year old niece, who to my knowledge has never finished a book in her life. I've seen this beautiful book in stores and finally bought it for her. I read it first and could not believe how much I identified with it! I loved the book and got so much out of it at my age, it reminded me of all the teen classics I enjoyed with a dark twist for this generation. The writing is clever and the message is universal. My niece finished the book in 2 weeks. We discussed it over lunch and were both so engaged in conversation that we decided to start a book club! Thank you ghostgirl.

As sad as it is to admit, the cover of this book is what immediately grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, the cover is better than the book.

Student, Charlotte, feels invisible at her high school and courtesy of a freak accident, literally becomes invisible following her death when she becomes a ghost.

The plot of Ghost Girl is stellar and seems like it should be a great read. Unfortunately, it falls short of expectations.

First, the book is riddled with corny death jokes. They're everywhere and seem to pop up at every other paragraph. Most of these jokes are eye-rolling, groan-inducing, and due to the vast number of them present, become irritating quickly.


Second, and this may be my personal peeve, but the author, or should I say "Charlotte" belittles genuine illnesses. I.E., one student ghost was said to have died from self injury. The moral of this student's story is that she she didn't cut herself well-enough and died from not being half-hearted in her attempts.
Charlotte later picks at her enemy for being anorexic.

Ignoring my personal distastes for the books, one of the primary reasons Ghost Girl is receiving two stars is while the plot is wonderful, the characters are not. They're one dimensional and fit the archetypal role to a tee.
Charlotte is the typical poor "nobody notices me, everybody hates me" girl. She sticks so closely to this role, in fact, that she becomes quite irritating and near impossible to relate to or even like. Charlotte's incessant tendency to judge and demean everyone around her while still having the audacity to pull the "woe is me, nobody understands me" card is off-putting.


While Charlotte is the main character and the entire text is about her, I felt that I didn't know her - nor did I particularly care to.

Petula, Charlotte's enemy, is also a flat character and sticks to the pretentious bully archetype. Her characterization is also over-dramatized and thus difficult to believe. It would have been wonderful if Hurley had offered some explanation for why Petula is the way she is, does Petula grow, what does she offer? Instead, she's flat, boring and extremely predictable - as most of the characters are.

In Ghost Girl, there's almost no mention of parents or family. Hurley's excuse for this? Because teens are too self-centered to have concern for their family. This seemed like a weak excuse and as if this "rule" may have been added as a fleeting afterthought.

It also seemed as if Ghost Girl had no editor. The number of mistakes throughout the book were numerous. For example, during Charlotte's criticism of anorexics, she mentioned "BMI index", which translates to "body mass index index." There are also several times when Hurley described a comment as "sarcastic" when it did not fit the definition of sarcasm. In fact, it seemed like every comment that every character made was "sarcastic," as each bit of conversation would end with "she said with sarcasm." or "she said, sarcastically."
This is without including the vast number of grammatical errors.

Finally, Hurley breaks several of the rules she sets for ghosts. Earlier in the book, it states that ghosts are unable to physically interact with the living or objects in the livings' time, and her body simply goes through objects or people she tries to touch. Later, Charlotte is hugging her crush and receives a "make-under" by a living person. The objects used don't "pass" through her and she's able to touch her crush and the other living person.

Also, Hurley states that Charlotte's real name is Charles early on in the text and she changed her name to Charlotte during her "make-over" attempt that year in high school. However, nobody recognized her as "Charles", students she says she's known for years prior to her name change all automatically know her "new name" is Charlotte and when she dies, the ghosts know of her new name as well, despite that this name-change is relatively new and she never appears to inform anyone of it.

Inconsistencies such as the above are all through the text. One minute Hurley makes a rule for Charlotte or states a fact about Charlotte, ten pages later the rule is broken and the fact, no longer existent.

The actual tone of the book is irregular. It passes through humble and full of awe to corny and conceited. While Charlotte is supposedly invisible and has little self-esteem, she manages to look down her nose at everyone.

To summarize, I loved the plot and was greatly looking forward to reading this book. However, it was such a disappointment that I plan to return it after I locate the receipt.
The characters are predictable and extremely irritating. The death puns, also irritating. And the plot never seemed to thoroughly develop.

If you're looking for an engrossing book that will leave you entranced. Keep looking.
This isn't it.