I like ghost stories if they are somewhat believable.   Ghosts who can kill or otherwise hurt people are just plain ridiculous to me.  This one is a great read. All the way through it I kept thinking, “Maybe Olivia is really just hallucinating and imagining things.”  This tension of reality and impossibility makes for a great tale.

Ellison has given us this enjoyable story: How can Olivia, a girl whose mother is in jail for killing a boy, even begin to believe that her mother didn’t do it since the police found her with the body and covered in his blood?  Maybe Stern, the ghost of the boy who was killed, will be able to make her see that her mother is innocent.  But, since her mother already had mental problems, that may be a little unlikely, especially since Olivia thinks she is now losing her mind.  Seeing a ghost is not Olivia’s only problem. She had just begun art school when the murder happened, and she returned home – not just to comfort her father and be comforted by him, but also because she could no longer see colors. The inability to see colors is not something an artist can handle very well.  If she tells anyone about this, she is convinced they will think she is also losing her mind.  Once Stern convinces her that her mother is really innocent, she must prove that to the police and keep her visual problem a secret– not an easy task.

I recommend this for any middle school or high school student.  Readers of mysteries will enjoy it, and readers of the paranormal will also relish the tale.  Parents need not worry about sex, drugs or bad behavior.