Backyard Ghost

by Lynn Cullen

Seventh-grade Eleanor desperately attempts to break into the popular crowd at her new school, but her efforts are complicated by her discovery of a Civil War ghost in her backyard. The ghost, a young bugler named Joseph, is vanishing because the development in Eleanor’s new subdivision is cutting his connections to the past. With the help of egghead Charlie and eccentric Rachel, can Eleanor save Joseph while finding the friendship she craves?

Hardcover

First published April 1, 1993

Reviews

[Irene]

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be: a nostalgic time capsule of the 1990s. I couldn't relate to some of it, like the music tapes (cassette tapes?), but I absolutely lived through a time where friends called each other on the house phone and used phone books to find local businesses. I mean this in a positive way, but this book felt nostalgic in part because it was a satisfactory read but not a standout. It reminded me of the books I read in my elementary school library that all kind of blurred together, which is exactly the feeling I wanted to capture.

Also, the author has a knack for highlighting the most humiliating experiences a middle school student could have, and the secondhand embarrassment was rough. Some examples of what the protagonist, Eleanor, does in order to try to become popular:
- She writes funny notes on strips of toilet paper and passes them out to the popular group of girls at school to try to become their friend. She's laughed at immediately, especially since the toilet paper is wet from her sweaty hands and she used brown marker for some of them.
- She practices her "pig face" (flipping her eyelids up and doing something with her nose) to try to make the popular girl laugh.
- She invites the 8 popular girls and 3 boys to her house for a party. Only one girl shows up on time. Eleanor's dad, who owns a pizza shop and decided not to work on a busy Friday so he could make hot dogs for Eleanor's party, ends up overcooking them because he kept them on the grill as long as possible waiting for people to show up. Nobody else comes in time to eat and the party is a dismal failure.

This book doesn't have much of a resolution in terms of the titular ghost, but I didn't get this book to critique the writing. The author wrote one of my childhood favorite books (I Am Rembrandt's Daughter) so I trusted that I would like her other books and so far, it's 2 for 2.

[Cara Neth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dumb. Dated. Kids read like kids imagined by an adult who hasn't been around actual kids in a while.