Emer's Ghost

by Martin Waddell (Pseudonym)

Who could possibly have imagined that an old and battered doll from a rubble filled ditch could mean trouble and danger?

Perhaps Emer should have listened more carefully to the fortune teller. Certainly a wooden doll that cries real tears is warning enough of something secret and strange. But it's only when Emer meets the doll's true owner that she realizes she's being haunted...and that the doll, the ghost, and Emer herself, are all part of the same dangerous mystery!

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_W...

Also writes under the pen name Catherine Sefton

Martin Waddell is the author of more than one hundred books for young readers.

Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2004).

Reviews

[Hilary Tesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little gem of a children’s book, set in N. Ireland. Emer finds a battered little doll buried in a ditch and begins to see the ghost of a little girl in ragged clothes who seems to want her to do something. Meanwhile, at their Convent school, a local history pageant is being prepared for the bishop, featuring Cromwell burning a nearby church, killing those inside. When Emer finally understands the messages the ghost is leaving her, she and her sister, Breige solve a legend but put themselves in peril to do so. Interestingly, the author has woven his fiction using a real event, the Massacre of Drogheda as a basis. (I also hadn’t realised Catherine Sefton is the pseudonym for Martin Waddell, author of many other children’s books)

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3 stars really, but for a children's book it was interesting and well written.

Was rereading it to see which of the children's ages it would suit best. (Probably 9-10 or older)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can this miniature gem of a book be so little read? It packs so much into so few pages - a ghost story, a portrait of life in Norther Ireland some unspecified time before computers and mobile phones, a history lesson and an ode to the relationship between sisters. Even the minor characters are perfectly drawn. The dramatic climax is skillfully foreshadowed, creating a satisfying conclusion to a resonant story.