Gene Richards is being haunted by a voice. He'd like to ignore it, but this voice is pretty persuasive, and it tells Gene that his Grandpa and a few other Magnolia residents did a bad thing a few years back before the Depression. The specter aims to get his revenge, and he thinks Gene is the perfect soul to carry out his plans. Gene isn't sure what his Grandpa did, but as some mysterious accidents start occurring to some neighbors, Gene knows he can't let his Grandpa become the next victim.
So I love a good mystery or thriller. I love reading them as an adult, and I loved reading them as a kid. That's why I was pretty excited to see James Lincoln Collier's newest novel, The Dreadful Revenge of Ernest Gallen. I thought the cover had a perfect ghost story cover, and Collier is no slouch when it comes to writing a good, historical novel (he co-wrote with his brother, Christopher, the Newbery Honor book My Brother Sam Is Dead). All in all, a perfect Sunday afternoon sort of book, or so I hoped, but it just wasn't the case. The book starts out well enough. You're introduced to the big ghost on page three, certainly a wise move when hoping to catch a reluctant reader's attention. Gene is likable. He's just trying to balance his life between school, playing ball, and earning a few pennies delivering groceries. He's got good friends, and his Mom and his Grandpa love him very much. The historical details are interesting, but not overwhelming. It seems Collier even researched how small town newspaper articles of the time were structured because it's hard not to notice the stylistic differences from today's papers. I was certainly thinking this book was a home run until I got to the last twenty pages and realized that the mystery was going to have to be solved really quickly and likely not to my satisfaction. Without giving the ending away, let's just say that it is not Gene who gets rid of the ghost. Gene is the main character. The whole novel is about how he's got to save his Grandpa. How is it that some adult gets to come in and save the day at the last minute? In real life maybe kids do just want some adult to swoop in and solve all their problems, but in a fictional world with a young boy as the protagonist, shouldn't he get to be the hero? Isn't that what most 10-year-old readers are going to hope for and expect?
Comments