The Ghost Belonged to Me

I wanted to read Richard Peck's THE GHOST BELONGED TO ME because I heard this was the book that Disney based the TV movie--(Child of Glass [VHS]--on. This book was fun to read and had a lot of scary (not too scary) moments in it as teenager Alexander Armsworth finds a ghost haunting his family's barn. The ghost, a girl his age but from a different time, tells him about a disaster that's about to happen and Alexander is able to save some town people from imminent death because of the warning. He becomes a mini-celebrity, which he doesn't like, and then he has to figure out how to help the ghost rest in peace. And he gets help along the way from his neighbor, Blossom Culp, who is like the poor man's Nancy Drew. Anyway, the story is a little different from the movie (from what I remember) but it's enjoyable none-the-less. I really like how the story takes place in the early part of the 1900s, so no cell phones or computers or video games, and the characters talk with a southern drawl. Fun and easy read about a different time and place, where kids can be kids.

I'm 37 yrs old and just recently rediscoverd this book at a used book store...I first read it when I was 12 and the movie too....The Child of Glass from Disney. I have to say it's one of the best from my childhood and enjoyed reading it again as a grown woman. I recommend it to all ages.

I found this book very interesting and the characters vivid and one's I'd like to read more about. It has a very good plot with some interesting twists turns and many pieces to the puzzle. I have just finished it and I am already going to go after the rest of the Blossom Culp series. I highly recommend this book to almost anybody.

I'm twenty-three years old, so not necessarily the typical age to read this book, which is aimed at a younger readership. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed this story, whose main draw are its vivid characters with their different idiosyncrasies, especially the underappreciated Blossom and the sweetly naive Alexander. Peck starts off by writing a summary of the story in the first chapter, which helps a lot in keeping the reader interested during the somewhat lengthy (but necessary) opening part which introduces the main characters. Ably and wittily Peck illustrates the contrasting mannerisms of Alexander's family, and his keen sense of observation makes this unlikely group seem all the likelier. Since the title contains the word "ghost", one expects magic in this story; the magic to me is the nostalgic wholeness of a world in which despite quarrels and fights a family stays together, and where quite obviously a protecting hand brings and holds things and people together. At odds with my experience of my world, this book creates a yearning for a better place inside of me, a place where modesty, honesty and trust receive the honor and reward they deserve.

In 1913 in Bluff City, Missouri, Alexander Arnsworth has seen the eerie glow of a ghost in the barnloft window so often he's come to think of the ghost as "belonging to me." Alexander's plucky friend, Blossom Culp, lives on the other side of the trolley tracks. Together, they explore the barnloft and discover the tormented ghost of Inez Dumaine, a little girl who died in 1861 on the Mississippi River. The rest of this wonderful novel is pure fun. Highly Recommended!