There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around

The story is about Ted (12 yrs. Old), Zach (16), and Vicki, who is in kindergarten. They all live in a house that's about 150 years old.

The problems start when Vicki starts talking to a friend, Marella, who no one else can see, and then when the “bad lady” (as Vicki calls her), causes Vicki to have nightmares and then say that the “bad lady” went after Ted (and, during that time, he was having a nightmare of his own.)

It turns out a girl cousin of Ted's was at their house when she was five years old and she also saw the old lady and Marella. Then Ted manages to find out that their house was involved in the underground railroad in the past, and that there's a journal kept by a woman involved in that.

Unfortunately, the ghost doesn't seem to want Ted to get hold of the diary.

An interesting and very educational part of the book revolves around a diary entry that Ted reads, the diary belonging probably to the old lady ghost. It tells about a runaway slave that took refuge in their barn and how they helped him. The way it's written will help bring some idea of the horror of slavery to young readers who don't know much about it.

The diary entries go on to tell how Ted's great-great grandmother ended up becoming even more involved in helping slaves escape. It begins to look like two other runaways Ted's grandmother helped could be the old lady and the young ghost. The novel goes on to describe more about the realities of slavery.

The story gets even more complex, though, revealing the actual reason why things are going on the way they are. Ted will have to make a great leap of trust in order to help his sister, and people from the past have to adjust to their own realities.

This is an excellent book, both as a ghost story and as an examination of just what slavery was like and what the underground railroad was like. Much more than a simple ghost story. Much more.

Main Index

Yadult Index