Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Ruined by Paula Morris

Great cover, eh? I was gently reminded of Richard Peck's old ghost stories that I used to love about Blossom Culp. Rebecca has to move to New Orleans because her only parent is working in China for a few months. She isn't thrilled to attend a snooty private school and to live with an "aunt" and cousin she doesn't know very well, but she manages. She's thrust into the New Orleans privileged and elite, even when she doesn't want to be, when a cute rich boy asks her to a Christmas party that most girls would love to attend. What keeps this from being a typical love story is the ghost element. Rebecca sees and talks to a ghost in Lafayette cemetery. And this is where I struggled. I love the family tie-in, the creepy setting, the interconnection of the rich families with the servants and slaves, and the character development. But I would have preferred there to be no ghost--just a family curse. Once again, I had trouble suspending belief. :)

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