Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator

Gilda Joyces' only dream is to become a spy/author. Her father has recently died of cancer, and her mother now has to work full time every day to support the family. The problem is that Michigan is definitely not the place for psychic investigators! When she finds out that she has a long lost relative living in San Francisco in a gloomy mansion, she thinks it a perfect opportunity to start her career. She definitely doesn't find what she expects. Get lost in mysterious locked up attics, a suspicious murder, and curious disguises! Read this book and find out more! It will let you in on the amazing life of a psychic investigator.

As a mother and former youth librarian, I recommend this book for both adults and teens. It's fun, quirky, and is full of mystery and adventure. The writing is engaging and enthusiastic - you can almost imagine Gilda Joyce bounding into your living room and impressing you with her energy and imagination, not to mention her very stylish clothes! As a librarian, I especially recommend this book for dealing with some very difficult issues - suicide, the death of a parent, divorce and depression - that often perplex young adults. Gilda's enthusiasm for life (and psychic sleuthing!) may help teen readers to put these and other difficult situations into perspective, making them less overwhelming. Above all, Gilda's adventures are great fun and offer young and old readers alike a chance to escape their everyday lives!

As the mother of two boys, I'm always looking for books to read to them that are extraordinary and challenging; Gilda Joyce is both! I loved the fact that Gilda handles very serious themes of loss and independence in a real yet fun way. Gilda is a master of coping with all that life throws her way and triumphing with humor and aplomb. Also, unlike some children's books about the supernatural, like the Harry Potter books, Gilda is literary, so I wasn't bored to death reading it out loud. Not only does it owe something to Harriet the Spy, but Jane Eyre as well. This is a great read for smart kids; the author writes as if she trusts her audience's intelligence. I've heard there's a new Gilda Joyce book coming out this spring. It's on my reading list already.

Move over, Harry Potter! Jennifer Allison's new teen-age sleuth Gilda Joyce has real-life adventures as Psychic Investigator that rival those of Harry. Courageous, daring, presumptuous, outrageous, undaunted, she enters a locked tower, entices ghosts, outwits unsmpathetic adults, and reforms the mal-adjusted. With wig disguises and ouija board, she flirts with the occult. Though this novel by Jennifer Allison is a "can't put it down" mystery story for teen agers, adults will enjoy it as well (I am 83). Norma W. Goldman, Professor, Wayne State University

Gilda Joyce is a terrific read. As a mother of a 15 year old, I found it so refreshing to read such a wonderful story, one that not only is fun but provokes one to think about challenges that we all face and that clarity about oneself can come from probing for the answers to unanswered questions in very innovative ways! This author is outstanding and I am hoping she is on to writing her next book. This book is great for adults and middle school children. My 15 year old has read this and is boasting to her friends about it! Now that is a real coup!