Review GIVE UP THE GHOST by Megan Crewe

GIVE UP THE GHOST
by Megan Crewe
Published September 15th 2009 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Hardcover 244 pages

Placement in the Pile: Reaching New Heights

Summary:
Cass McKenna much prefers the company of ghosts over "breathers." Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody... and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life, she's surprised to realize he's not so bad--and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it's time to give the living another chance...

Review:
This was a perfect book to read for Halloween. Cass starts to see ghosts after her sister's death when she was 14. Cass becomes a social outcast even more than she already was, and has learned to stay away from the living. The tale is intense, and sometimes dark as Cass talks about her sister's death, and the death of the ghosts she can talk to.

Tim comes into play and his relationship with Cass is hard, but may just be what both of them need.

I really enjoyed the characters in this story. Cass's experiences were actually very realistic -- even considering the talking to ghosts. The reason for her social outcast was not just the ghosts, and that other heartache and betrayal is very real...as it is something I am sure many dealt with in middle school and/or high school.

Her ability seems to be somewhat "6th Sense" and "Ghost Whisperer"-ish but she has no clue what is beyond, and no one is telling her that she is supposed to help the ghosts. She does know that sometimes they disapear and go to the "beyond" where most people go after death.

The only disclaimer that bothered me about the book, teenager sexual behavior and drug and alcohol use. I will give a hoorah for Cass never participating even though being offered, and the showing of some of the negative consequences for such behaviors. But it occasionally caught me off guard when a sexual term was brought up as every day teenage experience. It isn't a lot, and wasn't a deal breaker for me by any means for this book -- I have read much worse. But I wanted you to know.

This is getting longer than I expected! Overall it's a great read, brings up some good issues and was especially fun for this time of year!

Materials Resource Disclaimer: I got this book from the library. I am not compensated for my reviews.