To Catch a Ghost — Ann Brophy

A weekend retreat on an isolated island, a strange old man, Wilson, who lives there, a haunted lighthouse and an accident that happened sixty years before blend together in To Catch A Ghost.

This is a story of possession, not evil but good, and the eleven-year-old girl who solves the mystery with the help of her seven-year-old twin brothers and her self-absorbed older sister.

Lucy, the protagonist, is obsessed with writing, and she enters colorful remarks and nagging questions into her ever-present pocket notebook. She also volunteers to take care of her lively brothers for the weekend so her mother and father can have a vacation. George is obsessed with ghosts and vampires, and Adam becomes possessed by an island ghost who is held hostage in the lighthouse. Both Lucys family and s past family become entwined as a result of that long ago accident.

The setting is vivid and eerie, and the characters are real and amusing. The story is upbeat as the mystery unravels in a logical and positive way. There is a hint of young romance along with compassion and a developed respect for old age.

All in all, this book is a good read for the middle-graders, both boys and girls, with a strong, chilling and satisfying climax.