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A review by twicebaked
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech
3.0
I had kind of hoped that Uncle Arvie's speech would be code that Dennis breaks and that everything would be clear by the end of the story. It didn't happen, and that was a disappointment for me - it would have been nice to suddenly have a light turn on and be like "oh that's what he's talking about..." and then go back through the book and see all the things he's been saying that didn't make sense originally but now make sense. At the end of the book, there are still words you don't understand and that Dennis never figured out - that's part of why I rated it three stars.
The plot is very simple, and the book is very short. It's about third to fifth grade level so if you're like me and you're not even in grade school anymore, it's hard to get into and enjoy. On the other hand, there are two or three parts that are funny, and it's not boring - it simply doesn't have much action or a twist at the end.
It had to move fast because it's a short book, but the characters weren't as developed as they could have been, imo, and a couple things that could have been expanded on or made more interesting were cut a bit short, which leaves the reader hanging. I wasn't too sure what his purpose was for being there - I knew he was trying to keep the aunt from marrying Colin (tho the book doesn't portray Colin as bad, just kind of boring, so it was hard to root against him when there wasn't a set antagonist) and I understood that he wanted to give his wife the things he hadn't been able to give her when he was alive, but it doesn't seem like intricate-enough plot to build a book around. That's just personal opinion, not necessarily bad.
There's not much to this book and if you're going into it expected Walk Two Moons, you will be so disappointed. It has a flavor of Richard Peck's short stories (The Ghost Belonged to Me, A Season of Gifts, Here Lies the Librarian) and what it lacks in plot it makes up for in speed and simplicity, and it's enjoyable for the age range it's written for. So that, to me, is success! If the target audience is satisfied, then the book is well-done.
The plot is very simple, and the book is very short. It's about third to fifth grade level so if you're like me and you're not even in grade school anymore, it's hard to get into and enjoy. On the other hand, there are two or three parts that are funny, and it's not boring - it simply doesn't have much action or a twist at the end.
It had to move fast because it's a short book, but the characters weren't as developed as they could have been, imo, and a couple things that could have been expanded on or made more interesting were cut a bit short, which leaves the reader hanging. I wasn't too sure what his purpose was for being there - I knew he was trying to keep the aunt from marrying Colin (tho the book doesn't portray Colin as bad, just kind of boring, so it was hard to root against him when there wasn't a set antagonist) and I understood that he wanted to give his wife the things he hadn't been able to give her when he was alive, but it doesn't seem like intricate-enough plot to build a book around. That's just personal opinion, not necessarily bad.
There's not much to this book and if you're going into it expected Walk Two Moons, you will be so disappointed. It has a flavor of Richard Peck's short stories (The Ghost Belonged to Me, A Season of Gifts, Here Lies the Librarian) and what it lacks in plot it makes up for in speed and simplicity, and it's enjoyable for the age range it's written for. So that, to me, is success! If the target audience is satisfied, then the book is well-done.