13 year old Gilda Joyce wants to be a psychic investigator. Following the suggestions she finds in a psychic handbook, she feels that she should visit her mother's cousin in San Francisco over the summer. While there she meets her second cousin, Juliet, who is Gilda's age, rich, refined, and very depressed. The two girls make an uneasy friendship, and together they work to uncover the mystery surrounding the suicide death of Juliet's aunt ten years earlier. As they explore the mystery, they both struggle with emotional problems in their own lives. The strength of this book is the interestingly quirky characters. Gilda and Juliet seem to be polar opposites. Gilda is at the same time bombastic and insecure. Juliet is bratty, lonely and deeply troubled. The girl's opposite natures attract, and they learn from each other's strengths. Allison adds just enough supernatural element to the story to keep the reader guessing whether there really is a ghost involved, or whether the girls are projecting their own fears and hopes onto the world around them. The author leaves the question tantalizingly unanswered. This is a good read for girls ages 11-14 who like books that are a only a little spooky. (321 p)
I started the second book in the series call Gilda Joyce and the Ladies of the Lake, but I gave up before the end. In it Gilda goes to an exclusive girl's school and tries to solve the mystery of a girl who died three years earlier at the school. It turns out she died in a rush challenge as she was trying to get into a secret club. I am not really into books about beautiful popular girls being mean to sweet innocent fat girls. Been there, done that.
ReplyDeleteJennifer has a great mind and knows how to keep the charters personality going some writers can't do that. But she can. Gilda is a quirky charter she has a more realistic personality not perfect or has a perfect life. Jennifer created a charter that brings life and fun to the paranormal a true classic
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