Ghostgirl Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

Young Adult Fiction - Gothic
Release Date: July 1, 2009
285 pgs
Little, Brown, & Co.

*Look for interview with the author coming soon!

Charlotte Usher has finally found the peace she needs to move on. Sort of. After graduating Dead Ed in the first novel she finds herself...working at a teen help line call center??? Not only is the great beyond a call center, but Charlotte never gets any calls. She also doesn't get reunited with her loved ones like all of her classmates. Feeling as lonely and isolated as she did while among the living, Charlotte makes a new friend Maddy who seems to be the only one that cares about her. But then Petula becomes seriously ill and Scarlet "calls" Charlotte for help. But helping Scarlet (and Petula) might mean risking everything, but when your Charlotte Usher a.k.a. Ghostgirl, what have you got to lose?

The Ghostgirl novels have to be some of the most unique books I've ever read. Ms. Hurley uses the same framing in the second novel that I loved in the first. The quotes and "epitaphs" are both classic and modern, abstract and detailed, but most importantly they are relevant. In the second novel readers see more of Scarlet and Damen's relationship as well as Charlotte's unselfish side. Charlotte's journey to help her friends also helps her to reach her final destination so to speak. Readers who complained that Charlotte was annoyingly self-centered in the first novel will appreciate her personal growth in Ghostgirl Homecoming.

What impressed me the most was the author's ability to tell multiple intricately woven stories at once. I found I was just involved in and attached to Scarlet's , Damen's, and Petula's stories as I was Charlotte's. I am excited about offering these books in my classroom because I think readers who aren't as interested in romantic comedies or love stories (with or without vampires) will enjoy these unique novels. Readers who enjoyed Wicked Lovely, Dead is the New Black, Wake, and Generation Dead will probably appreciate the Ghostgirl books.

Classroom Use:

These novels invite research on the authors of the quotes as well as discussion of friendship, good vs. evil, Joseph Campbell's Monomyth or "hero myth," life and death, afterlife, selfishness, right and wrong, ethics, relationships, trust, jealousy, forgiveness, mourning, grief, and much more!

Rec: Grades 9-12

Grade: B+