I have currently finished a book called Pleasing the Ghost. The main character is a 9 year-old boy named Dennis. In this book Dennis can see ghosts and the ghosts come to visit him and the come through his window in a swirl of blue smoke then form into a body. Dennis’s uncle and father have just died and his uncle Arvie’s ghost comes to visit him. His uncle Arvie can’t talk well because he had a stroke when he was still alive and it messed up how he would talk for the rest of his life so only Dennis and his aunt Julia (Arvie’s wife) can tell what he is trying to say.
When uncle Arvie asks for three pleases Dennis has to figure out what he means. It turns out that uncle Arvie has some unfinished business with his wife. Dennis has a bully at school who can see ghosts too. But then uncle Arvie tells him that he thinks only kids can see them but adults can feel and smell them as well as kids they just can’t see them. So when Dennis finds out another kid can see them he tries to prove that he is a ghost to the bully at school by telling him that uncle Arvie can fly. So Dennis tells him to meet him after school in front of his house and he will bring uncle Arvie and tell him to fly.
Dennis and his mom miss his dad so much that Dennis begins to want his dad a little more than uncle Arvie. It isn’t that he doesn’t like uncle Arvie it is just that he has been wishing for his dad ever since he has died but then he figures out that the ghosts that visit him do not end up there on purpose, but that the wind takes the ghosts flying through the air and takes them wherever the wind goes. Dennis thinks that if he keeps wishing on the same star every night and wishes hard enough that his dad will come. This book is funny, romantic, and a little sad. Read this book to find out what happens in the end.
Sincerely,
Emme
Dear Emme,
ReplyDeleteWow. It really sounds like this book will make you think about what happens after you die. I just finished reading a ghost book, too. I guess I was already sort of thinking about what happens to your soul so the fact that you were reading a ghost story at the same time feels a bit strange. Especially since in my story the boy's father has died as well. He is kind of like a medium and can see ghosts much like your character. He can see everyone except who he wants to see, which is his Dad. He can touch things and feel the person who owned them, too. It seems strange to me that a person would be able to do that. I am not sure how much I think is real and how much is people either being dishonest or having an overactive imagination. I kind of want to believe in ghosts, but there isn't enough evidence to satisfy me. I don't like the idea of a soul being stuck on Earth, but I do like the idea of it being proof that we actually do have a soul that continues to exist even after our bodies stop working. The whole ghost thing also reminds me of Chiron in the Lightning Thief when he tells Percy he shouldn't wish for immortality. I suppose the same thing applies to ghosts. They live on and on. That is a bit depressing. Of course some people say that ghosts get caught in a loop and do the same things over and over, kind of like Prometheus or Sisyphus. I am not sure I like that idea either. Wow! Your book really made me contemplate some deep ideas. Did it do the same for you?
Sincerely,
Ms. C