Ghostgirl Bk1

I just couldn't put this book down from the moment i started reading it. Like the Harry Potter series I just didn't want to put it down and go to bed until I finished it. A interesting independent look at the spirit world that exists along side our own as Charlotte Usher finds out when she chocks on a Gummi Bear on the way to class and soon find herself reassigned to the Dead End kids. Like the spirits in the movie Beetlejuice each ghost is reflected in how she died such as Picholo Pam making musical whistle sounds when she talks. Also paying hormage to the original Casper movies the spirits also have to over come their un finished business besides learning to let go of their life when their alive before they can graduate and move on. Charlotte is trouble for them as she doesn't want to let go. She still wants her date with the hottest guy in school. Since Goth girl Scarlet can see and her her Charlotte has a plan to get what she wants. As the book goes she learns what one wants and what ones needs are sometimes two different things.

I love this book...its so clever and had me laughing quite a bit. I hope this series continues. I really love the cover.

Hurley's book is a breath of fresh air. I would give this book my highest recommendation for all ages. It covers many themes that school age children and teens deal with every day in a humorous manner. It brought back many memories for me. Loved the cover and presentation of the book as well. Very unique! Buy this book now!!!

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I should die before I awake, I pray the popular attend my wake." This is the year for Charlotte Usher. The year that she's finally going to be noticed. She's finally going to have what she's always wanted: to be a popular girl and fit in with the head cheerleader in the school, Petula Kensington. She feels that the first day of school will be the start of her new life. She'll finally have the attention of the most popular guy in school, Damen. Who is, of course, Petula's boyfriend. In a way she does start a new life. Although it's actually her afterlife. Poor Charlotte chokes on a red gummy bear just before she leaves her first period physics class and dies. Her hopes of starting over fresh and finally being noticed for once are all crushed in an instant. Especially when she finds out that she still has to graduate even though she's dead! There's a whole class of students from her school who have died and are still attending classes there. Charlotte isn't giving up, though. She's still determined to win over Damen. And with the help of Scarlet Kensington (Petula's younger sister) she's sure she'll be able to do it. Scarlet can actually see Charlotte and Charlotte isn't about to let that fact go to waste. She figures she can hang out in Scarlet's body and get through to Damen that way. But her new dead classmates aren't liking Charlotte's plans too much and are making it incredibly hard for her to get anything done. Plus, the more time Scarlet spends time with Damen (when Charlotte isn't in her body, that is) the more Scarlet is starting to like Damen herself. Charlotte is determined to be noticed. She thinks that if she can just get noticed and be popular that she'll finally move on. But is popularity really what Charlotte needs? Or is it just finally realizing that you don't have to be the center of attention to matter? This book was great. I couldn't really guess what would happen throughout the book, which I always like. Poor Charlotte has such a rough time! Especially in the beginning of her afterlife. But she pulls through and even learns a valuable lesson along the way. I loved Scarlet's character. The way she acts towards her sister is hilarious. They are total opposites in every way. I loved all the nicknames the other dead students have, too. And I thought the ending was cute. It might not have been totally realistic, but then again this book wasn't really all that realistic in the first place. So I thought the ending fit pretty perfectly. I highly suggest checking this book out. Reviewed by: Breanna F.

ghostgirl Tonya Hurley. Little, Brown, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-316-11357-1 Hurley, an independent filmmaker, debuts with this glittering comedy, a prime exemplar of what might be called demento mori, a growing subgenre of satire about teens who will not or cannot die. Charlotte Usher's plan to catapult herself from the ranks of the invisible to the heights of popularity at Hawthorne High--no possibility for allusion goes unturned--hits a major snag on the first day of school when she chokes to death on a gummy bear. Sent to Deadiquette school along with other teen spirits, she skips out, still determined to woo her longtime heartthrob, never mind that "he doesn't even know I'm alive." The jokes stay sharp, from the goth girl who gives her a "make-under" to throwaway lines (caught breaking some cardinal rules, Charlotte mutters to herself, "I'm dead"). Plotlines raise the stakes, putting Hurley's consistent wit to the service of classic themes about claiming identity. While the author has a built-in fan base from her ghostgirl Web sites, high-impact design will ensure attention from casual browsers as well. An elaborate die-cut with stamped acetate on the cover dares readers to laugh at a silhouette of a cartoon girl in an open casket, an effect heightened by the extra-tall trim size; inside, pink-and-black graphics liberally adorn the margins, epigraphs to chapter openings, etc. And given the polished dark-and-deadpan humor, it's a natural fit with Gen Y, too. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)