Scaredy Kat

March 1, 2009
Gr 5-7-Ever since she learned that she could talk to the dead in School Spirit (Little, Brown, 2008), 13-year-old Kat has been doing her best to avoid otherworldly encounters. Her friend Jac, on the other hand, is fascinated with Kat's abilities and is anxious for another chance at ghost hunting. The girls are collaborating on a school project, investigating the history of a long-abandoned house, when a photograph reveals a boy's face at the window. When Kat enters the house, she sees the child playing, but he shows no awareness of her. The message "Help Me" scratched in the dust convinces her that supernatural forces are at work. The two friends discover that the house was the site of a serious accident three years earlier. Learning that the injured victim is still in a coma, they suspect that there may be a connection to the haunting. Kat visits the hospital, and recognizes the patient as the ghost child. Can she use her psychic powers to help him reconnect his spirit to its physical shell, before they become irretrievably separated? Kat and Jac are an engaging team. Their dialogue, both spoken and emailed, generally rings true. The mildly suspenseful plot moves briskly, although the writing style occasionally strays into rather heavy New Age mysticism. A few plot threads are left to be resolved in the next volume. An acceptable choice where there is a demand for supernatural fiction.Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2009
This second series entry nicely balances normal thirteen-year-old angst with paranormal drama. Self-described "ghost whisperer" Kat finds herself embroiled in a spine-tingling supernatural mystery. Trying to reach the uncommunicative spirit of a boy, Kat comes face-to-face with some of the darker forces vying for her attention. Kat's honest, humorous first-person narration takes the edge off her more frightening otherworldly experiences.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2009
This second series entry sustains the promise of the first book (Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit, rev. 7/08), nicely balancing normal thirteen-year-old angst with paranormal drama. With her best friend out of town, Kat begins spring break working on a school assignment -- she's that bored. She decides to photograph the unoccupied house next door and tell its story by "imagining the people who had lived there in the last century..." However, this self-described "ghost whisperer" soon finds herself embroiled in a spine-tingling supernatural mystery concerning one of the house's most recent residents. Trying to reach the uncommunicative spirit of a young boy who needs her help, Kat comes face-to-face with some of the darker forces vying for her attention. Kat's honest, humorous first-person narration takes the edge off her more frightening otherworldly experiences. Her struggle to come to terms with her "gift" will be familiar to middle-grade readers just beginning their own journeys of self-discovery.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)