Ghost Ship
Dietlof Reiche
Scholastic
Fiction, MG Mystery/Fantasy
Themes: Cross-Genre, Ghosts and Spirits, Seafaring Tales
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Description
Over two hundred years ago, a mysterious, scar-faced man commissioned a figurehead for his new ship, the ominously-named Storm Goddess.
The carver, on a tight deadline, broke with tradition and pieced together a pre-carved body with a new head, almost certainly dooming the vessel
from any sailor's standpoint. The ship went down at sea with all hands, and today all that remains of man or ship survive at its port of origin, a
seaside tourist town. The mysterious man's portrait hangs in Ye Olde Seashell Room, a restaurant whose walls are covered with seashells from around
the world, and the head of the Storm Goddess's figurehead looks down on the room from the wall, the only piece of wreckage to survive...
or was it?
Vicki's father runs the restaurant at the Seashell Room, and she works as a waitress (with her other siblings) when school's out. Since she was a
little girl, she thought the figurehead was hiding a special secret. With the help of a science-minded boy tourist named Peter, she is about to
discover those secrets, kept for two centuries. Naturally, any secret that old is likely to be a dark and dangerous one, and even in this day and age
there are those willing to kill to keep it hidden.
Review
As the title implies, this tale involves ghosts, secrets, and a number of clues scattered throughout Vicki's sleepy little town. Vicki herself is a fairly believable, brave heroine, piecing together a centuries-old puzzle with her new friend Peter (who, in a year or two, will probably be a boyfriend proper, after all the blushing and grinning and such she does whenever he's around.) Like many Young Adult books, several of the grown-ups are more caricatures than characters, acting as comic relief, somewhat larger-than-life antagonists, or Unexpected Allies, people whom the kids aren't sure they can trust because they're older but who come through in the end. None of the characters are overly original, but only a few were downright annoying or wastes of plot space. I felt a certain listlessness and impatience when reading it, especially toward the end (after an unnecessary "second prologue" pretty much outlines how things are going to go, though the story itself takes a long time to get there.) The logic of the haunting feels a bit sketchy, too – the ghosts of the doomed ship manage feats above and beyond what most spirits are capable of in these tales, yet seem helpless in other, lesser ways. This book doesn't linger long in the memory, but it's a nice enough read if you're looking for a ghost story with a nautical flavor.