The Phantom Isles

Middle-school students Courtney, Ming and Orion break into the Carville, Massachusetts Public Library one late spring night. Inside the library's "granite walls, cast-iron grilles, and turreted roof that made it look like a fortress," the children huddle in the cavern-like basement. Under the beam of Orion's flashlight, they recite an incantation from THE COMPLEAT NECROMANCER, an aged book written by former Carville resident Professor Hezekiah T. Osgood, who is now deceased. Hezekiah, his wife Clara and son Nichodemus spent many years on Ilhas dos Fantasmas --- also known as Prithvideep --- an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, south of the Equator. There, Hezekiah and his family learned about the arora --- spirits that haunted the islands. THE COMPLEAT NECROMANCER is an ordinary-looking book, "old and heavy as a brick," which chronicles Hezekiah's investigation into the mysteries of the afterlife. According to the book, "three friends must gather in the darkness and conspire to raise the dead." After Courtney, Ming and Orion repeat the incantation, they believe nothing has happened. They scamper from the library, forgetting Orion's flashlight in their haste. The next morning Alma Parker, the town's librarian, finds the flashlight and notices something else amiss --- and it's not just the books that are out of place. After Alma picks up a book that is also part of the Osgood collection, she sees the profile of a boy pressed between the pages. It is "a filmy, translucent layer...as if traced by air." The image moves and looks at her. While reading in her bedroom, Courtney also discovers the image of someone moving between the pages of a book "like the pale outline of a fern that might have been pressed inside the book long ago." Back in school, Ming and Orion are assigned to create a presentation for the Carville World's Fair social studies project. Their teacher, Mrs. Hokum, has a vendetta against Alma Parker and a long list of books she wants banned from the library. Ming and Orion select Ilhas dos Fantasmas as the country for their project. Mrs. Hokum reluctantly approves their selection, but she remains suspicious and continues her campaign to ban "negative" books from the library and remove Alma Parker as librarian. Joining forces with Alma and her husband, Ted, the three youngsters attempt to rescue the trapped arora while trying to protect the library's books from Mrs. Hokum and her supporters. THE PHANTOM ISLES is creative and visually appealing, with stories within stories and images of arora watermarked on its pages. Told from several points of view, including the spirits trapped within the pages of obscure texts, THE PHANTOM ISLES succeeds as an entertaining, informative and engaging novel. --- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt

A strange old book called The Complete Necromancer holds more than magical instruction - it holds actual ghosts and powerful passages that can bring up the dead - a proposition that intrigues friends Ming, Courtney and Orion. Their quest for knowledge brings the local library's books to life with spooky moving images - and unleashes a storm that could overtake the town. A wonderful, spellbinding story suitable for advanced elementary through middle school grade levels evolves.

I recently bought this book for my nephew who is eleven and an avid reader. He tells me that not only did he love this book but it has inspired him to become a writer in the future. He has shared it with his teacher and classmates at school and it seems that they have all enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading it now myself.

Three brave children, an amazing librarian and an island of ghosts inhabit THE PHANTOM ISLES. Stephen Alter has created a unique ghost story with a thrilling cast of fascinating characters. This delightful mix of magic, ghosts, haunted books and exotic islands is a winner! It would make a great read aloud for teachers and parents. And the suspenseful chapter endings will keep even the most reluctant readers flipping pages. I look forward to reading more books by Stephen Alter.

Late one night Ming, Courtney, and Orion sneak into the town library to find a very curious book. The Compleat Necromancer contains a spell that can supposedly conjure the ghosts of the dead. The friends perform the spell and...nothing happens. Or so it seems. The next day Alma, the librarian, notices books out of place. Stranger still is the face that looks out at her when she opens one of them. It seems to materialize on the page, and it appears to be looking right at her! And it's not the only face stuck in a book. Slowly a mystery comes to the surface. It seems to center around a place called Ilhas dos Fantasmas, and a professor who went to live there for awhile a long time ago. If Ming, Courtney, Orion, and Alma can solve the mystery, they might be able to free the ghosts from their books. But, the clock is ticking, and the books might be in greater danger than any of them realize. This is such a fun book, and such an original idea! I love that it tells the stories of the ghosts, as well as has their faces on the page. It makes the story so much more vivid. Plus it has a crazy teacher, who at first is almost funny then turns creepy. It's the fun kind of scary book that is a great story for anyone. It also seems like just the kind of book that parents could read to their kids. Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman