Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

What was almost a perfect graphic novel was ruined for me on the last two minutes when it became an after-school special about why not to smoke. "Nothing...I just don't feel like smoking anymore. I don't think I ever liked it. And it doesn't look as cool as I thought it did." Ugh--what a turnoff.  Couldn't that be said less blatently?

It also seems like this graphic novel is catering toward librarians--there's microfilm! And, although some librarians and reviewers won't admit, reading about libraries and librarians in books make them happy. :)

Anya is a Russian immigrant who is trying hard to fit into her high school. She wears her private school skirt short and smokes and is trying to lose weight. She doesn't even want to THINK about talking to the other Russian dork at her school. But when she spends a night in a cold, empty well, she discovers a ghost of a dead teenager who follows her around. The ghost is friendly--helping her "improve" her test grades, encouraging her to talk to the cute basketball player--but things aren't always what they seem. Ghosts aren't always like Casper.