Le Fantôme de l'Immeuble

by Melvin Burgess

A Carnegie Medal NomineeTwelve-year-old David lives with his dad in a big London apartment building called Mahogany Villas, where he climbs through the building's old ventilation system to play tricks on the other tenants. But David's nasty pranks disturb more than just his elderly neighbor. One day, he comes face-to-face with a ghost, at first friendly but eventually terrifying. Soon the old man and David are in great danger.(AR) For ages 9-12Available only in Young Adul Standing Order.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Young Adult, Mystery, Supernatural, Childrens, Ghosts

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Melvin Burgess is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroin-addicted teenagers. Junk soon became, at least in Britain, one of the best-known children's books of the decade.

Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life As We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is typical for his most famous novels.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/melvin...

Reviews

[Stella Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.75

[azu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Me quedé pensando qué va a pasar con David después de ese final 🥺🤔🤔

[Joel Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't take your childhood for granted, you’ll never know how fast it will go. In the story it talks about a troubled boy named David, David doesn't like going to school but he does like going into the ducts. In the ducts he spies on people pretending to be”the ghost behind the walls” He later discovers a old man called Mr. Alveston, Mr. Alveston lives above David and David is pretending to be ghost trying to scare the old man but David later discovers that there is a ghost in the ducts.
In the beginning of the story the author uses description to build suspense. In the book it says “staring into the dusty, greasy darkness he could just imagine a cold whispery voice snaking its way through the ducts” This description build up suspense because it was talking about what was happening when David was going to go into the ducts and what might happen when he is in there.
Another authors craft that I found in the story was in the middle of the book, Melvin Burgess also used flashback to introduce a new a character. In the story it says “Mr. Alveston had grown up in london, but he’d lived all over the world, Mr.Alveston got married to a girl named Rose they ran a florist shop for ten years, but then Rose died at the age of 82 of a stroke” The author used this flashback to tell us a little about Mr.Alveston and what he used to do before he came to live at the apartments.
The final author craft that I saw is in the end of the book the author uses tone to stir empathy. In the story it says “It happened quickly, no longer than a minute. When he had gone completely, Mr.Alveston smile like an angel” The author used this to show the readers empathy and to show different moods in the story. He also does this to to feel sad about Mr.Alveston dieing.
In “ghost behind the walls” the ghost symbolizes how you can take your childhood for granted. At the end of the story the readers is left to wonder if it was better if the ghost was it self or better with the ghost being combined with Mr.Alveston. At the end of the story we also have to wonder if it is worth dieing to have your childhood back.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey guys. I really liked this book. The fact that they had drama and horror was amazing and the characters are amazing. You should read.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of my book is The Ghost Behind the Wall. The lexile level of this book is 690L. The author is Melvin Burgess. There was a kid searching through the vents in his apartment. When he came along a ghost from his neighbors house with alzheimer's appears. He found David because he was playing pranks on people in there apartment.
The theme I found in the story is don’t take your childhood for granted. The kid named David was in the ducts because he didn’t want to go to school and also because he wanted to become the ghost in the walls. He wan’t living the way he should be living as a kid so he’s ruining is childhood. He couldn’t stay in the ducts forever either because of a different ghost that was in the ducts with him. “ He was sick of the kids at school.” That was evidence that he really didn’t want to go to school because of the kids.
The book was alright in my opinion. If I were to give it stars I would give in about 3 stars. I would give 3 because of how unexplanatory it was. It didn’t give good detail that were deep. I could tell what could happen by the title of the book. Also the whole book was slow there wasn’t any really big things that changed the book. My favorite was when he does find the ghost because that’s the main event. One thing that I connected to was people climbing into the ducts. I’ve seen that in movies where people are spying from up above them.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good creepy ghost story for children. David is a 12 year old victim of a broken home. He is bullied at school and making himself increasingly unpopular through bad behaviour. He is als a risk taker, which sometimes leads him into trouble - and never moreso than when he climbs into an old ventialtion shaft in his flat that connects to other flats in his apartment complex. He uses his doscovery to spy and play nasty tricks on his neighbours - until the day he sees a ghost and events start to take a turn for the worse.

There is redemption, friendship, reformation and love in this book. Lots of good strong emotions that make for a memorable story. It is short though, and lacks the depths of a more adult novel. Nevertheless one to be enjoyed by children and probably young adults too. And indeed anyone who wants a short but enjoyable ghost story.

[Karlein · Rating 2 out of 5]

(PN year 2 level, not recommended)

I'm sorry Mr Alverston, but I couldn't find myself connecting to this story. Alzheimer's is a very sad thing and the loss of your former memories must be very painful. I assume the author tried to portray the indescribable pain and horror it will be if one loses its memory by creating a ghost that flees from his master's body. However, it's too unrealistic for me. An angry ghost living in the pipes trying to ruin its former host's life is too much of a stretch. I can't really decide whether I think it's too far out there or too uninventive. In addition, too much had to be put in there: a messed up kid, a conflicted ghost and a confused old man. I finished the novel, as that is one of my personal rules, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Rachel Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is incredibly subtle and mature for a children’s book. In fact I think it may be a grownup book pretending to be for children. Cheesy cover and title notwithstanding.

The “voice” is very young as the protagonist is 12, but older readers can catch on to certain things that don’t occur to him (and I would absolutely have missed as a book-lover at his age). Much is said in a relatively few pages without being over-stated.

[Aminah Golder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s about a kid named David and he discovers the ventilation system that leads to other apartments and he just wants to mess with people and he’s disturbing this man who is scared he is loosing his mind and David is not helping and then at the end the old man and David find a ghost in the wall and are in danger.

[Graham Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read Junk years before I read this. I was expecting something in the same kind of style, but this took a lot longer to get into and was easy to fall out. Definitely more for a preteen- maybe if they’re dealing with a grand parent who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia.

[Lucy Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't get chance to finish this with my reading group due to it being end of the school year so I finished it off myself. A decent children's story with a bit of spook to it.

[Emilija Skridlaitė · Rating 2 out of 5]

Labai lengvo turinio, dėl ko manau, kad jei būčiau skaičiusi būdama 13 būtų patike kur kas labiau. Tačiau tikrai įdomi ir skaitymo bloka numuštanti knyga 😊

[Knyga be viršelio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pliusas: greitai klostosi įvykiai.
Minusas: įvykiai neįdomūs ir neįtraukiantys.

[Alsixte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gusto mucho en concepto pero siento q en una de las "pistas" antes del plot twist arruinó la emoción y la sorpresa :v

[Mara Castro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un poco lento

[Zackary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actions and thinking can set up a big problem, however sometimes it can lead to a good outcome. In “The Ghost Behind The Wall”, by Melvin Burgess, David makes a decision that starts bad but ends up doing good for someone else. David chooses to go into the ventilation system for his building, and he wants to do bad. As time goes by and he terrorizes some people, he discovers a ghost. The ghost “helps” David scare people and disrupt their lives. David then has to figure out who or what this ghost is, and why he hates someone. In “The Ghost Behind The Wall” Melvin uses inner thinking, revealing actions, and dialogue to set the problem, introduce characters, and get readers thinking.



The first and most noticeable craft move the author uses is inner thinking. Melvin Burgess used this craft move to get readers thinking. Because by knowing what the character thinks, we can begin to make predictions of our own. For example, when David first attempts to go into the vents, he has a long hard debate with himself of what to do with this new “power”. Inner thinking can also show the characters fear. Like when David first sees the “ghost” in the vents the book illustrates how scared David was. Also the conclusion David made to use the ventilation system for bad. The thoughts David has give the readers something to predict upon, to get the readers thinking. By seeing the inner thinking of a character we can predict what they will do next.



A second craft move the author uses is of course, dialogue. Dialogue is helpful for introducing other characters. Like when we are first introduced to David’s father Terry. David and Terry have a discussion about life and father-son stuff. With that we learn a little about what kind of character Terry is. Another moment is when we first meet Mr. Alveston. David and Mr. Alveston have to have a long talk about some of the bad choices David made, because they effected Mr. Alveston’s life. So, since the author used dialogue, we were able to be introduced to new characters.


The final craft move Melvin Burgess used was revealing actions. Revealing actions such as, everytime David enters the vents, and what David does once he enters the vents. When David decided to enter the vents for the first time it set up the problem. When David had entered the vents and decided to do bad from them, it revealed a lot about his character. Don’t get me wrong he does eventually change as a character. But, nonetheless he was “bad” in the beginning. That revealing action made us think that. Also when David went into Mr. Alveston’s house and messed with it. This also showed what kind of character David is. David knew Mr. Alveston has a troubled life, and yet David messed with him anyway. These revealing actions not only set up the problem for the story, but also showed us what kind of character David was.


The things and decisions you make can impact more people than just you. However sometimes when a problem occurs it can all end out for the better. David, for example, messed up someone elses life. However after getting confronted for doing so, he begins to help the man he messed with. In the end David ends up being able to achieve that man's final wish, thus ending all for the better. Now it is sad that the man had to pass away, but the man was old and wanted to pass on. However, the fact that this is even possible. Starting a problem and the problem ending with a better outcome may seem crazy. Wars have taught us sometimes you have to escalate the problem in order to solve it for the better. A good example of this is the American Revolution. The Patriots escalated the problems in the colonies so much that a it began a war. After the war was over the colonies became free from English rule. Because the Patriots escalated the problem with the english rulers, they were able to break away from england and form the United States of murica(America). However, don’t forget the outcome of a problem can also be affected by how you act or react.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melvin Burgess author of “The Ghost Behind The Wall” used many craft moves like revealing actions, flashback, and tone to give an effect on the scenes from the book. “The Ghost Behind The Wall,” is about a 12 year old boy named David, who is home alone most times during the week. David noticed how he could go into the vents and thats what he started doing very often. But on one of his trips in the vents a young ghost appeared, and ever since then the ghost has been trying to play with David. David knows nothing about this young ghost who always appears in the vents, until he goes into the old man’s, mr. Alveston’s apartment. In “The Ghost Behind The Wall” the author shows how things don’t go like expected.
The author Melvin Burgess uses revealing actions in order to build suspense or mysterious in scenes from the book, like the part in the book when Davis is in the vents “As David starred, the old man opened his eyes and looked up… for one horrible moment they stared straight into each others face and then the old man opened his mouth and said ‘Jonathon!” David has no idea that things weren’t going to go like he expected. Also a scene in the book that is mysterious, with revealing actions is David is speeding to his apartment from the vents, in the book it says, “In front of David… there now appeared a floating face… the gray face of a boy.” I felt as if this scene wasn’t scary but mysterious because the ghost popped out of nowhere, and this relates to my claim because David didn’t expect a ghost to pop out of the vents.
Author Melvin Burgess also uses another author craft move, which is flashback. In my opinion I feel like he used it to make readers understand future scenes from the book better. A seen in the book in which the author used this craft is when he says, “... an old, old man who lived on the floor above him was day dreaming about things that had already happened… the old man was called Robert Alveston… he’d fallen in love with a handsome, pump florist, whose name was Rose. They got married within a month… they went to Paris and enjoyed a happy marriage of over twenty years before Tulip died of a stroke…” Mr. Alveston had no idea of this, it just happened unexpectedly.
The last author craft that Melvin Burgess uses is tone. I like the way he used it in the ending of the book, when he says “The ghost, quite clear now, a pale boy of eight or nine years old, took a few uncertain steps across the room…he lay on the bed next to Mr. Alveston, and before David’s eyes, he began to fade away…‘It was me, all the time.’ Mr. Alveston looked vaguely at him and gave a wondering shake of his head...standing there by the bed, he burst suddenly into tears. But whether they were tears for himself, or for the boy or for Mr. Alveston, he could not say.” This really put lots of feelings in the book while it also connects to my claim how David didn’t know if Mr. Alveston was going to die or something else was going to happen to him when he got his childhood soul back.
Melvin Burgess author of “The Ghost Behind The Wall” used many craft moves throughout the book. The few that I catched were revealing actions, flashback and, tone in order to make the story feel more alive. Even though there is a lot of other claims that could be made from this story, mine has been proven by text evidence from the book.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is not exactly 'Carnegie Medal' standard, 'The Ghost Behind the Wall' is still an entertaining and well-written ghost story for children or young adults.

The first five chapters were intriguing enough, though "the superb twist in the tale" (Elizabeth Craig, The Royal High School) is predictable even from the opening chapters; "But his scream wasn't the scream of a child. It was the scream of an old, old man" (those who read the book will understand). I was fooled into thinking that this story was more 'special' than it actually was, for there were some nice touches to it, especially the ventilation aspect in the Mahogany Villas.

However, not only was the story unbelievably predictable it was also something of a let down. Burgess seemed to focus on the Mr. Alveston (old)-David (young) relationship, rather than on anyone or anything else, fair enough. But when you compare the sheer originality of 'Tom's Midnight Garden' with this (both incorporate 'memory ghosts' in their stories), well, I'll leave the conclusions up to you. For those who did not get my point, 'Tom's Midnight Garden' is far superior and when considering that both were intended for children, I cannot help but to recommend buying that instead of this.

In my opinion, this book is just another example of a premeditated failure of a good concept. What I mean is that the author had a good idea in his head and of the plot and he thought that that was enough. The end result is far from satisfactory though. There is nothing in it to merit it being classified as a children's classic (like 'Tom's Midnight Garden'), it has neither the plot nor themes for that. But at least it is well written, and that is enough for some readers nowadays.

All in all, I expected much more form an author of this pretentious calibre. Something of a let down for me personally, really. But it still deserves 3/5 for at least it is somewhat suitable for children, a rarity for horror mediums nowadays.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Ghost Behind The Wall, Melvin Burgess uses many different craft moves to help the reader understand the story. The theme of the story is “Don’t take your childhood for granted.” The story is about a kid named David who likes to go in the ducts of his apartment to spy on people in other apartments. He doesn't like going to school and gets into a lot of fights when he is there. One day when he goes into the ducts he sees a face of another kid his age. A ghost.

The author has many scenes with description. When David is crawling through the ducts and sees the ghost, he explains the ghosts face was “contorted with rage and twisted like a crumpled piece of paper.” The last time David went into the ducts the author showed us he was growing because he barely fit in that time. When the author introduced Mr. Alveston, he described him as being “so frail you felt like you had to tiptoe past him.”

The author used many flashbacks to introduce new characters. He showed Mr. Alveston having flashbacks about his life to better show the reader who he was. He explained the 2 wives he had, the children he had who all died of old age, the grandchildren he had in Australia, and owning a flower shop with the wife he called Tulip. To introduce Terry, David’s dad, he explained how his mother moved to the U.S. and planned to bring them with her in a months time but later confessed that she had married to another guy.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Melvin Burgess the author of this horror story the Ghost behind the wall. This story takes place in London were a boy named David lives. He lives with is Dad ever scenes this Mom left. David lives in an old apartment with is Dad called Mahogany Villas. David gets in to trouble a lot at school and is always losing thing when he hangs them at the edge of the window when he is bored. david spends a lot of time at home alone when his dad is at work .so one day he is home alone he find a air shaft right above him that is big enough for him to get in and out so he pulled the couch under the air shaft and when in. While he was in there he heard someone calling him to go deeper he just ignored it then he realise that he can go in to anyones apparent without them evening realising he was there he could take their things like money toys and much more and they can say anything or do anything about it. But David is always find himself back in the air shaft even when his Dad found out what he was doing the more David goes into the air shaft the more weird things start to happen to him and and every he knows until he discover that all those weird things aren't accidents but a warning to stop if from going in to the air shaft.

[Lisa Delaine Youngblood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twelve year old David deals with the breakup of his family and too much unsupervised time by crawling in the ducts inside his apartment building. Though he enters with negative intentions, even he is scared when he discovers a ghost who wants to do even more damage to an elderly tenant.

The book offers an excellent exploration of memories and the existence of ghosts.

Though the novel itself is a solid story with well defined characters, I personally had a hard time with a main character who remorselessly terrorizes a man who is suffering from alzheimers disease. Eventually the boy sees the error in his ways, but not until it is almost too late. The character blaims the ghost for much of his bad behavior, but any adult reader can see that his behavior was reprehensible before the ghost comes into play. In one passage the author says that David likes some of the nice children at school but that he would rather hang out with the bad children.

[Dakota · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author is Melvin Burgess. The Title of the book is The Ghost Behind The Wall. The story is about this boy named David and he lives with his Dad. David found out that there is vents that go throughout the whole apartments. David goes in there almost everyday and sneaks around, but one day he feels like someone is there with him and he knows he didn't tell anyone about it...Who could it be? His Dad? His neighbor? A ghost? The Theme for The Ghost Behind The Wall is to mind your own business because you might hear something or see something you doing wanna hear or see. I think that in the book he find something out that he never thought about and he was thinking that could be true.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked this story because of the innocent childish nature it has whilst still dealing with something fairly serious. the boy who was not afraid or much i feel was changed during this story because he encountered things he coudnt explain this really matures him as a character and i think that is important because he is not doing so well in school and he should look at the bigger picture that would create.

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really hated David, the main character, in the beginning. He kept breaking into this nice old man's apartment to destroy the place and mess it all up, causing the man to think he's going crazy. But soon the two become friends and David feels bad for what he did.
I'm not quite sure about the ending...it's kinda weird and I'm still trying to figure out everything after finally knowing who the ghost really is.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

i know this is a kids book but i sat down and read it in one sitting. as a kid i loved reading melvin burgess' books especially junk and saras face. i actually had the pleasure of meeting him!!

i thought this book was so clever and it was so well written as it brought real emotion out when you read it. the ending had a fantastic twist to it which was completely unexpected! this book was actually better than most adult thrillers i've read! would definitely recommend for a quick easy read!!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this book since it was published and I never got around to reading it before now, I had a good image of what I though the story was going to be just from the blurb and cover, but my idea was completely off. I liked the story, though I don't think it was wonderful like some children's books are.

[Keagan Smerud · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghost Behind the Wall by Melvin Burgess is a realistic fiction book that is about a boy named David who climbs into he air ducts of his apartment building and finds a ghost that will not let him go. An old man named Robert Alveston who has Alzheimers disease. He has lost his childhood, which is the ghost. Then Mr. Alveston goes into critical condition and they crack the code for him.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A prankster crawling through the ventilation shafts in the apartment building where he lives stirs up a ghost that causes even more trouble. Not as good as I expected it to be.

[Sharon Skinner · Rating 2 out of 5]

The protagonist was really difficult to like and the POV shifted all over the place, but the story was okay.

[Destiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing!!!It was the perfect transation.FRom creppy and freaky,to buetifal and sweet and so nice