On Cape Cod for the summer to visit his grandmother, young Thomas loves to dream of the great sailing ships that once voyaged past the beach on which his grandmother's house stands. When he finds an old belt buckle washed up on the beach, after a storm, the ghost of the buckle's owner - Silas Rich, a young boy from the 1760s - appears, and tells him a tale of those seafaring days. Captain Haskell, who originally built the house that Thomas' grandmother now owns, features in the exciting story of fire, mooncussers, and a narrow escape from shipwreck, as does Silas, who went on to become the captain's cabin boy...

Better known as a best-selling suspense novelist, Mary Higgins Clark made her children's book debut with Ghost Ship: A Cape Cod Story. An engaging work of historical fiction, presented through the mechanism of a ghostly storyteller, it is the second picture-book I have read from Clark, following upon her holiday story, The Magical Christmas Horse. I enjoyed the narrative here, which reminded me of how I too would dream, as a young girl, about the past events that might have occurred in the places I was visiting. The accompanying artwork by Wendell Minor, who apparently also did the cover art for a number of Clark's adult books, is lovely, capturing the natural beauty of Cape Cod, and the suspense of Silas' tale. Recommended to young dreamers, who like to imagine what the past was like. ( )

An interesting tale about a boy who meets a ghost boy from the 1700s. The boy from the past tells the story of a famous, brave sea captain and his near disaster on that very beach.

http://ginasblogging.blogspot.com/2007/03/ghost-ship.html ( )