Haunted

Lorraine Orman (author)

Walker Books, Australia: 2009; 86pp

ISBN: 9781921150821

Genres: adventure, ghosts story, horror

Issues: bullying, family, friendship

Georgia and Ned are town kids, offspring of two high-powered, successful, very busy lawyers. They love their children but time is not something they can spare, it seems. For this reason - another work commitment - Georgia and Ned find themselves spending their summer holidays on a farm. Boring. Or is it?

For Georgia it means three weeks of trying to escape the bullying ‘humour' of her cousin, Jeff. No mobile phone coverage. No trips to the movies with friends. No computer or email. Just the excitement of helping her aunt bottle fruit, make jam and perform other traditional womanly tasks.

But then Georgia meets Lily - a mysterious girl who lives in a burnt out house on the farm. The only problem is that Lily is a ghost. And she doesn't want Georgia to go home - ever.

Haunted is an interesting story - scary without being nightmarish - that will appeal to both boys and girls. The idea of a ghost becoming possessive of a particular human is hardly new but Orman's telling is fresh and readable. The bullying issue is only dealt with superficially. Characters are reasonably two dimensional but this is primarily a ghostly adventure story and to be enjoyed as such.

Note: Walker's Strikes series consists of short, exciting stories designed to bridge the gap between picture books and novels.