Abstract
Reviewed by: Ghosted by Leslie Margolis Karen Coats Margolis, Leslie Ghosted. Farrar, 2018 [256p] ISBN 978-0-374-30756-1 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-7 Thirteen-year-old Ellie Charles is the unquestioned queen bee in her middle school, choosing to lead through fear and intimidation even though she is more than competent in both her schoolwork and extracurriculars. When she falls from [End Page 79] a ladder while setting up for the winter dance, she has an out-of-body experience à la A Christmas Carol. Led by her former best friend, Marley, Ellie revisits cringe-worthy moments from her past, present, and future that prompt her to give a series of apologies and adopt a new set of values going forward. While the premise is of course straight-up didactic, this portrait of a bully and how she got that way has as much understanding to offer the reader as it does for Ellie herself. As her motivations become clear, her actions evoke sympathy if not absolution, and while those actions are exaggerated for effect, the lesson never becomes any more oppressive, or less uplifting, than that of the classic story on which it is based. KC Copyright © 2018 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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