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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780316113571
ISBN number: 0316113573
Label: Little, Brown Young Readers
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: August 01, 2008
Publishing house: Little, Brown Young Readers
Age index: Young Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 10870
Studio: Little, Brown Young Readers
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Product Description:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I should die before I awake,
I pray the popular attend my wake.
Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.
If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.
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Rated by buyers 
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Tonya Hurley has captured the angst and the joy of the moment for girls between childhood and adulthood. Her metaphor is brilliant as is the language and story. This is a great gift.
ghostgirl
Rated by buyers 
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But it's definitely up there on the list.
I liked the idea of the book. I also liked the cover and the pages. Yeah, I'll admit that it's what originally caught my attention. There was just no depth, in my opinion. I found myself waiting for something great to happen and nothing did. And the ending was a major disappointment. I might even call it a cop out.
I was expecting so much more from this book, especially since all the reviews I had read said it was great and even amazing. There's nothing amazing about it.
Rated by buyers -
Charlotte Usher has been working hard all summer. But unlike other kids, she doesn't actually have a job. Instead, she's busy working on her Popular Plan. Her new mantra becomes: "This year is different. This is my year." The object of her desire? Damen Dylan. When she's randomly chosen to be Damen's lab partner in science class, she's convinced that her plan to win his affections is already in motion. But then she chokes on a gummy bear and nobody even notices. She dies all alone.
"Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I awake, I pray the popular attend my wake." Charlotte can't get popularity off her mind, even in death. Plus, she now has to go from a normal living high school ruled by the queen bee, Petula Kensington --- Damen's girlfriend (of course) --- to the dead kid school in the basement. Charlotte, along with the rest of the afterlife students, needs to graduate in order to move on from this in-between place.
The afterlife kids are in a school called Dead Ed, ruled by a Mr. Brain, who is there to teach them the lessons of Deadiquitte. But even in Dead Ed, Charlotte isn't winning anyone over. She only befriends Piccolo Pam, who desperately tries to teach Charlotte the dos and don'ts of being a ghostgirl.
Plus, Charlotte still can't get Damen off her mind. Then she has a brilliant idea. Using her new invisible status, she can follow him wherever he goes. She travels with him to his girlfriend Petula's house where she meets Scarlet, Petula's younger sister. Much to her surprise, she realizes that Scarlet --- in her funky, Goth glory --- is the only person who can actually see Charlotte.
Charlotte enlists Scarlet's help to snare some of Damen's attention and maybe, just maybe, finally get what she wants in the afterlife. But things are never as easy as they seem --- in life or in death.
GHOSTGIRL is a fun and quirky story that puts a whole new spin on the quest for popularity. Written by Tonya Hurley, a writer and acclaimed independent filmmaker, this debut novel packs a punch. The beautiful artwork and design add so much to the reading experience. This is a book that should not be missed, and I look forward to future installments of the series. RIP in popularity.
--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson
Rated by buyers -
The very first thing that drew me to GHOSTGIRL is the cover. That silhouette cut-out on a jet-black cover with the pink ribbon and the pink splashes of colour was designed to get that kind of attention. The bushy head of hair and the stick-thin cartoon body is provocative. The hardcover has some serious heft to it too, and I was intrigued by that as well when I had it in my hands.
Then I noticed the shape. The book isn't a comfortable rectangle like so many books are. Rather, it's elongated - almost coffin-shaped, you might say. And once that impression entered my head, that the girl on the cover was actually lying in a coffin, she haunted me. But I turned away from her and the story she was DYING to tell me.
I read a lot of YA books, but I tend to want to read BOY books rather than GIRL books. And GHOSTGIRL -- especially with that pink ribbon - screams GIRL. Turns out, I was right about that, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.
GHOSTGIRL is Tonya Hurley's very first novel, but there are supposed to be more centered on this character. Seems dead young Miss Charlotte Usher (and you don't have to wonder long before you put that name and Edgar Allen Poe together) is going to have quite the afterlife.
Hurley is an independent filmmaker in addition to being a (now) bestselling author. She obviously has lots of experience with young girls, and a decidedly twisted view of life. And death.
I enjoyed Charlotte's short existence before her passing. After raising a teenaged girl myself, I knew how neurotic and strange they could be. Of course, to be fair, my daughter probably learned how strange fathers could be, so I consider the education a trade off. Charlotte, living and dead, is a treat and a true example of those humbling teen years that cost so dearly and scar so deeply.
Charlotte's painful realization that she's going to have to go to school even though she's dead is too funny. Apparently neither the living nor the dead can escape high school. Hurley handles the dead world and the living world with equal aplomb. But it isn't long before Charlotte starts breaking rules on both sides of the grave.
The pairing of Charlotte, who wanted to be as popular as her personal enemy, diva Petula, and goth girl Scarlet, who's also Petula's little sister, is inspired. Despite their differences, they get along. After all, they both have their issues with Petula. And I have to wonder if Charlotte and Scarlet were chosen because their names sounded so similar.
The story speeds along. Turning the pages is effortless. However, I was surprised at how much Scarlet stepped into the spotlight toward the end of the book. We almost lose Charlotte at times. But by that point I was reading the novel to see what happened next, which is where writers want readers spending their time.
The novel's progression doesn't ever take on any of the weightier problems in life. The story stays locked in just one step short of slapstick, and that's a fun place to be. I finished the novel in a sitting. Although I wasn't really surprised by any of the turn of events, I was satisfied and enjoyed several chuckles.
GHOSTGIRL is definitely a book for reluctant readers. It's fun and moves quickly. However, there's enough near-adult content that parents might want to read this one for themselves before handing it down to the 9-12 crowd.
Rated by buyers -
The concept of this book is interesting and it's why I purchased it. I was remembering a book by Christopher Pike that I'd read around 10 or 12 years ago...I believe the title was "Remember Me." "Ghostgirl" sounded like it might be similarly interesting.
I was wrong.
As I said, the concept could have made for a great book, and that's the only reason I gave it two stars. Other than the fact that the author had an interesting idea, the book stinks. There may be a few very mild spoilers in this review, as I had to describe some specifics to get across a point; however, nothing major would be spoiled by reading (except maybe your desire to purchase the book).
Character development is slim to nil. Hurley gives us virtually nothing in background on any of her characters, including the main character Charlotte. I didn't like any of the characters, mainly due to the fact that I knew nothing beyond the most shallow of their motives for doing anything. Hurley does a lot of "telling" and very little "showing."
The level of language used in this book is appropriate for someone at about a 5th to 6th grade reading level; yet the content in the book would be entirely inappropriate for someone of that age. I wrote better than Hurley when I was 11 and I would be embarrassed to even show someone this book and say I wrote it now. The feeling the book gives is not that Hurley is trying to write at this level; more like she had a deadline to turn in her manuscript and wrote this book in a hurry the night before.
Cultural references are important, but Hurley mentions so many currently popular bands, Myspace, and other pop phonomena that it seems like she's name-dropping or trying to prove that she still "understands what it's like to be teenage girl." Her over-use of these references comes off as grasping at straws, trying to appeal to the "younger set."
There are often times when the plot just doesn't make sense, again giving the feeling that Hurley was writing the book the night before the deadline, just to get finished in time. Ideas are mentioned but not explained or fleshed out; specifically the concept of a prophesied "The One" that is mentioned once in the book until the end and is never explained in any way.
Finally, I think it's completely insulting to imply that all teenagers who die are too shallow and self-absorbed to miss their families. It's also an extremely obvious and pathetic way to write off the need to describe the families and the deeper emotions kids might be feeling upon death.
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