Peggy and the Ghost

by Briana Corr Scott

56 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2026

Reviews

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

As readable and pleasant as this was, it did seem a minor book from this creator. Last time round we had a very competent verse about children pulling away from depression (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), but here we have a small kind of ghost story. The plot is definitely easy to convey – our girl realises there is a ghost girl, who cannot remember anything, so needs her past pieced back together, which the girl does, the end. If anything the strongest character here is not of any of the children, or even the setting (very local to the author, in real life), but the time it's set. Here is a humble village in the 1950s, the children very often barefoot, with the place set for the fishing industry, and our family helped by the girl's mother selling artworks to the summer tourists and getting favours by being a sounding board to everyone and reading their tarot.

It looks fine, and certainly has a small touch of local feel to make it distinctive, but the pages don't really have the storminess of the worst the environment could throw at these people, neither the more languid summer days – the whole thing is stuck in the middle, it's neither here nor there – it's ramped up to five, if you like. I'm not saying children's ghost stories need be full of blazing hellfire and threat, but this felt cosy, and not fully baked. Three and a half stars.

[Kay S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ART! THE ART! Oh em gee the art is stunning! The author/artist does an amazing job capturing the colours and vibes of small town Maritimes life while also capturing the whimsy of a child who's yet to grown uninspired by small-town life. The town and its workings are still beautiful and fun despite it's silly superstitions and woes.

I'm always up for a good haunting - this one is very sweet and gentle and childlike. It suits the gentleness the author treats the setting and surrounding characters with.

The story is clipped in places, like it was edited too close to the quick. Some chapter endings are short and quick while some descriptions are a touch long-winded. I think the opposite could have been more successful with the art speaking for some of the description and the story allowed to continue.