Ghost Girl  by Ally Malineko

Katherine Tegen Books, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063044609

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook ( Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

Knobb’s Ferry is a sleepy little town, just south of Sleepy Hollow, home to the tale “Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman”, is the kind of place tourist stop to fill up with a tank of gas or have a slice of pie on the way, and it’s also home to sixth grader Zee Puckett, who has just discovered she is gifted with the ability to see ghosts.

Zee is an outsider with a prickly personality, but she is also a born storyteller, and she especially loves making up and telling ghost stories, much to the delight of her peers. She lives with her older sister, Abby. Their father has been out of town for six months, looking for work, and they haven’t heard from him, so the girls are scraping by. While Abby works, Zee goes to school and hangs out at the cemetery with her friend Elijah. Elijah’s mother is ill, and his father was an athlete and is now a mechanic. Elijah is bright, but uninterested in sports or cars, a disappointment to his dad. During a field trip to the library, Zee sees her first ghost. She’s spotted by her frenemy, popular Nellie Blake, who announces on the bus home that Zee thinks she was talking to a ghost, earning Zee the nickname “Ghost Girl”.

In the meantime, the principal has disappeared, leading to the appointment of a new one, Principal Scratch. Principal Scratch encourages the students to put themselves first, and focus on their own desires, and Zee watches as the people around her start to see their hopes miraculously come true. After a visit from Principal Scratch, the girls’ father starts regularly calling Abby, Eli’s mother is suddenly healthy again, and Nellie finds her missing dog.  Everyone in town loves Principal Scratch, yet the townspeople are drained of energy. Only Zee can see that something is wrong, and she helps Eli and Nellie break Principal Scratch’s hold over them. Can the three of them stop Principal Scratch and break his hold over the town?

Early in the book Principal Scratch muses that sixth grade is a testing time, “a strange, in-between time… when we walk that delicate line between good and bad. Between bully and friend.”  Malineko portrays the growth of Zee and her friends in that liminal time, as they realize people, including each other, have more going on than they show to the world, and that that line is not as solid as it appears.

With vivid descriptions, terrifying hellhounds, gruesome moments, plenty of suspense, and a librarian in their corner, Malineko has created a dark story, told with compassion, about family, friendship, becoming comfortable with yourself, and standing together, that ends with real hope. Kids who enjoyed A Tale Dark and Grimm or the Shadow School books will find a lot to like here, and parts of the book reminded me of Tuck Everlasting. Knobb’s Ferry may not have a headless horseman, but it does have a ghost girl. Recommended for grades 4-7.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski