How a Weirdo and a Ghost Can Change Your Entire Life — Patricia Windsor

Gr 4-7 Home from school with strep throat and abandoned by her best friend, Martha Lewis is befriended by the class weirdo, Teddy Winterrab. He brings her school assignments and teaches her how to use a Ouija board. After contacting some enterprising ghosts who supply important clues, Martha helps solve some neighborhood mysteries. More importantly, she learns that friendship must be given and accepted unconditionally. Windsor has skillfully interwoven an ample amount of suspense, diverse characters, and a positive tone with a progressively quickening pace. Although the mystery of a hidden will, the identity of the neighborhood thief, and the whereabouts of the missing child are all neatly packaged, readers will eagerly accept the upbeat ending. Windsor's first novel for middle graders is an enticing introduction for younger readers to an author whom they will enjoy as adolescents. Cynthia K. Leibold, Anderson High School, Cincinnati, Ohio