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My Favorite Ghost
Derek Malloy doesn't believe in ghosts. But he'll do just about anything to make money! So, when he's faced with a jobless summer on Plymouth Island, Derek concocts a fantastic get-rich-quick scheme--complete with a ghost!
Soon Derek has most of the island kids convinced that an old, abandoned mansion really is haunted. And they're willing to pay for a tour! It looks like money in the bank for Derek. But will his friends get suspicious?
Soon Derek has most of the island kids convinced that an old, abandoned mansion really is haunted. And they're willing to pay for a tour! It looks like money in the bank for Derek. But will his friends get suspicious?
123 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 1988
12 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Roos
34 books5 followersSon of Audrey Kelley Roos [1912-1982] & William Roos [1911-1987].
Born in New York, Stephen Roos grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut. He attended Loomis School and graduated from Yale University. He lives in New York City and Litchfield County, Connecticut.
Soon after he graduated from Yale, Stephen Roos landed a job in the marketing department at Harper & Row (now HarperCollins) in New York. He eventually became an editor and worked on a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction—only to find that after a dozen years in the field, he wanted to be an author.
His first book, My Horrible Secret, was published by Delacorte in 1983. Today, he has two dozen books for children and young adults to his credit. He is most recently a contributor to James Howe’s highly acclaimed 2003 anthology, Thirteen (Atheneum).
Mr. Roos’s success is reflected in the reviews his books have received. About his book, Recycling George (Simon & Schuster, 2002), Booklist said, “his characters are quirky and real, his language spare but rueful and true.” School Library Journal described his book The Gypsies Never Came (Simon & Schuster, 2001) as “a novel written in a lean and propulsive style that draws readers in.”
In accepting the Charlie May Simon Medallion from Hillary Rodham Clinton for My Horrible Secret, Stephen Roos said, “I like the demands that young readers make on me—the clarity, the honesty, the ‘being real’ that they continually expect of me. They make my work a challenge; they keep my life vital.”
Born in New York, Stephen Roos grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut. He attended Loomis School and graduated from Yale University. He lives in New York City and Litchfield County, Connecticut.
Soon after he graduated from Yale, Stephen Roos landed a job in the marketing department at Harper & Row (now HarperCollins) in New York. He eventually became an editor and worked on a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction—only to find that after a dozen years in the field, he wanted to be an author.
His first book, My Horrible Secret, was published by Delacorte in 1983. Today, he has two dozen books for children and young adults to his credit. He is most recently a contributor to James Howe’s highly acclaimed 2003 anthology, Thirteen (Atheneum).
Mr. Roos’s success is reflected in the reviews his books have received. About his book, Recycling George (Simon & Schuster, 2002), Booklist said, “his characters are quirky and real, his language spare but rueful and true.” School Library Journal described his book The Gypsies Never Came (Simon & Schuster, 2001) as “a novel written in a lean and propulsive style that draws readers in.”
In accepting the Charlie May Simon Medallion from Hillary Rodham Clinton for My Horrible Secret, Stephen Roos said, “I like the demands that young readers make on me—the clarity, the honesty, the ‘being real’ that they continually expect of me. They make my work a challenge; they keep my life vital.”
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 14, 2023
I figured for my next read, it was time to go back to my quest to read books from Ghosts of Fear Street author.s. This time we have Stephen Roos, who did Fright Christmas, The Boy Who ate Fear Street, The Ooze, and Who's Been Sleeping in my Grave. I think he did the most and I quite like most of those, he's another one that seems to get it. He doesn't have a ton of notable works but he has some. I wanted to do something from Pet Lovers Club but that has Halloween and Christmas books so I can save that for an option then.
I went with this 1988 standalone as it's spooky themed. It revolves around Derek, who is staying at his Grandmother's along with his sisters. Their parents are out for a while on some business thing, or at home doing it, I couldn't tell. There's no mention of a Grandpa. One night they tell ghost stories, and Derek finds out about the legend of Evangeline Coffin, no relation to M.T. I assume. She's a woman who possibly killed her husband and her ghost is said to have popped up years later.
Derek is a guy who likes to make money and since his theater job is on pause right now, he gets an idea to use a fake a story about this ghost to make some of. So it turns out this is not a standalone, it is 3rd in a series revolving around Plymouth Island. There is zero indication outside of the about the author page mentioning it. It seems like it's more about the island with the others center on the friends we see here, Explains why we have a few too many that don't do too much, they're just here for continuity. One is about one of the sisters. Maybe I'll do those someday.
Anyway, this was fun. There is some decent writing and vocab words, we've been seeing more of that lately. It's mostly charming with the character interactions. Outside of Derek, everyone is likable here. Grandma is nice, the sisters are slightly at odds but are otherwise loving and the friends don't call him crazy for the ghost claims. They buy into it maybe too easily at times, but before they do and they question it, they aren't mean about it. So weird to see.
There's a few too many people that don't always do enough but they're still fine. Derek is tricky, as he is basically a prototype of Eddy of Ed Edd N eddy here which I cans see annoying people. He's mostly fun with how makes this scheme up. Granted, it takes a while to see how this all makes him money, very Step 3 Profit. When we get it, you wonder how anyone falls for this scam.
I don't think he oversteps the line too much, he has a few decent moments even as he does all this. He's just amusing enough, not grant or super ideal but not awful. It's clear this is a "giving a supporting character the spotlight" book which explains a bit.
It gets started kinda quickly enough but it takes awhile for the scam to wind up. It could have been tighter to make this a more wacky romp, given the plot. As it is, it works okay. There are charming interactions and some decent bits of rumor. Not a lot of scary-ness outside of maybe one moment here and there. Stephen did have some humor in his Ghosts books and there it was usually mixed well, while The Ooze was pure comedy.
This shows it a bit more, maybe not as well his Ghosts books but it's there. Who's Been Sleeping in my Grave is more traditional but that did work the best of his so if editing was involved there, it worked. And that has a ghost named Evangeline I think he likes that name.
The ending is eh. Derek ends up getting off scott free which feels dumb, there's not much major punishment. The final note is abrupt but amusing since I figured that would be it. Like Programmed for Terror, it has a weak ending that didn't sit right with me although it less annoying here I guess.
It's another fine little book. The nature of it won't sit well with everyone but despite its flaws, i enjoyed it. It's charming with characters who are mostly fine. I don't know of I'll rush to read the others but this did work fine. Something about it appealed to me, even if it's not super strong. Boy I tend to read a lot of stuff in that camp, especially lately.
That's about it for this. Up in the air on what is next, I got authors and series to visit or re-visit. Planning this out is hard, there's a lot of stuff out there for me to be the only one to care about lol. Anyway, we'll see what is next. See ya then
I went with this 1988 standalone as it's spooky themed. It revolves around Derek, who is staying at his Grandmother's along with his sisters. Their parents are out for a while on some business thing, or at home doing it, I couldn't tell. There's no mention of a Grandpa. One night they tell ghost stories, and Derek finds out about the legend of Evangeline Coffin, no relation to M.T. I assume. She's a woman who possibly killed her husband and her ghost is said to have popped up years later.
Derek is a guy who likes to make money and since his theater job is on pause right now, he gets an idea to use a fake a story about this ghost to make some of. So it turns out this is not a standalone, it is 3rd in a series revolving around Plymouth Island. There is zero indication outside of the about the author page mentioning it. It seems like it's more about the island with the others center on the friends we see here, Explains why we have a few too many that don't do too much, they're just here for continuity. One is about one of the sisters. Maybe I'll do those someday.
Anyway, this was fun. There is some decent writing and vocab words, we've been seeing more of that lately. It's mostly charming with the character interactions. Outside of Derek, everyone is likable here. Grandma is nice, the sisters are slightly at odds but are otherwise loving and the friends don't call him crazy for the ghost claims. They buy into it maybe too easily at times, but before they do and they question it, they aren't mean about it. So weird to see.
There's a few too many people that don't always do enough but they're still fine. Derek is tricky, as he is basically a prototype of Eddy of Ed Edd N eddy here which I cans see annoying people. He's mostly fun with how makes this scheme up. Granted, it takes a while to see how this all makes him money, very Step 3 Profit. When we get it, you wonder how anyone falls for this scam.
I don't think he oversteps the line too much, he has a few decent moments even as he does all this. He's just amusing enough, not grant or super ideal but not awful. It's clear this is a "giving a supporting character the spotlight" book which explains a bit.
It gets started kinda quickly enough but it takes awhile for the scam to wind up. It could have been tighter to make this a more wacky romp, given the plot. As it is, it works okay. There are charming interactions and some decent bits of rumor. Not a lot of scary-ness outside of maybe one moment here and there. Stephen did have some humor in his Ghosts books and there it was usually mixed well, while The Ooze was pure comedy.
This shows it a bit more, maybe not as well his Ghosts books but it's there. Who's Been Sleeping in my Grave is more traditional but that did work the best of his so if editing was involved there, it worked. And that has a ghost named Evangeline I think he likes that name.
The ending is eh. Derek ends up getting off scott free which feels dumb, there's not much major punishment. The final note is abrupt but amusing since I figured that would be it. Like Programmed for Terror, it has a weak ending that didn't sit right with me although it less annoying here I guess.
It's another fine little book. The nature of it won't sit well with everyone but despite its flaws, i enjoyed it. It's charming with characters who are mostly fine. I don't know of I'll rush to read the others but this did work fine. Something about it appealed to me, even if it's not super strong. Boy I tend to read a lot of stuff in that camp, especially lately.
That's about it for this. Up in the air on what is next, I got authors and series to visit or re-visit. Planning this out is hard, there's a lot of stuff out there for me to be the only one to care about lol. Anyway, we'll see what is next. See ya then
January 20, 2017
This was the first book that I checked out at a library when I was 12 years old. I was drawn to the cover for some reason. I remember reading it really fast, I will never forget this book it is the book that made me like to read for fun, not just for school. I don't know if my 30 year old self would feel the same if I were to read it now.
May 19, 2014
Really, really cute!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews