This was a quick, quaint ghost story. Although the cover suggests it's a scary tale it's not. The ghost sightings are just little things, like hearing a noise, or seeing something strange, but not threatening. It was more a ghost story of coming to terms, finding peace, and moving on.

I really liked how it changed perspective between the boy of the present, Max, trying to unravel the ghost story, and the boy of the past, John, who is telling us his story. Each boy was fun to read. John was a boy who yearned to learn and read, but had a father who wanted him to pick up the family trade and who found his sons interest in schooling to be feminine and useless. Max was struggling with a move and feeling invisible in this new town, and is entralled with the sweet girl who works at the library and actually sees him.

This is a great ghost tale all mixed in with a coming of age story. It was a short book, but the characters and storyline were well written and really drew me in. I really loved that the lure is based on a real "haunted house" in Ontario. It's a great read for Halloween time (or anytime). ( )