Eglantine

Allie's Ghost Hunters #1

by Catherine Jinks

Allie Gebhardt thought sharing a room with her younger brother Bethan was bad enough, but sharing a room with a ghost proves to be down right frightful. In this deliciously spooky tale, Allie’s family is haunted by Eglantine Higgins, the ghost of a young girl who used to live in their house. After mysterious writings appear on the walls of Bethan’s room, Bethan moves in with his older sister, much to her dismay. Irritated by her younger brother, Allie becomes determined to get rid of the unwanted guest in Bethan’s room. This suspenseful tale combines mystery, cleverness, and a little bit of humor to create a frightfully fun ghost story for younger readers.

Genres: Ghosts, Supernatural, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Childrens, Young Adult, Paranormal

140 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

About the author

Catherine Jinks is the Australian author of more than thirty books for all ages. She has garnered many awards, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award(three times), the Victorian Premier’s Award, the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction, the Australian Ibby Award, and the Davitt Award for Crime Fiction. Her work has been published in Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic and Thailand.

Catherine was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1963. She grew up in Papua New Guinea, where her father worked as a patrol officer. Her high-school years were spent in Sydney, NSW; in 2006, her alma mater, Ku-ring-gai High School, named its library after her.

From 1982 to 1986, Catherine studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with an honours degree in medieval history. She then worked on Westpac Banking Corporation’s staff magazine for approximately seven years. In 1992 she married Peter Dockrill, a Canadian journalist; in 1993 she and her husband left Australia for a brief spell in Nova Scotia, where she began to write full time. They returned to Australia in 1994, and Catherine gave birth to her daughter Hannah in 1997. Since 1998, she and her family have been living in Leura, NSW.

She has two brothers, and two pet rats. Like most people in Leura, she has become a slave to her garden, but not to the extent that she’ll buy rooting powder.

Catherine has been writing books since she was eight years old. She doesn’t expect to stop writing them any time soon.

Author photo: Catherine Jinks in front of 'Conceptual Networks', by artist Paul du Moulin.
Photo by Paul du Moulin

Reviews

[Heather W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although targeted at a younger age group, Eglantine does deal with some dark and upsetting elements that will perhaps trigger some serious questions from a younger audience. It is glossed over but I think it is such a prominent element towards the end (dreams about being force fed, anorexia, discussion of death, discussion of exorcism) it is still an ok read. It deals with the story quickly and is fun to read from Allie's perspective. The tension is built up well at the start and it does get resolved well. I just think some of the elements are not suitable for a younger audience.

[Kate]

For some reason i just randomly thought of this book today, i read it back in 2011, when i was younger, and remember loving it.
I think i may have even read it twice in the amount of time i had, because i borrowed it from the school library.
I don't know why exactly, but i have such nostalgia tied to this book. Had to add it to my goodreads.

[Karen Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eglantine is a paranormal adventure written for 8 to 12 year olds. As I write for this age group, I like to “research” what’s on the market. Besides, the books are usually enjoyable to read and don’t take up much of my time. Sometimes I like to finish something quickly and this was a nice break from the usual type of story that I read.

I imagine 8 to 12 year olds might find the story a little scary, but the author has written it light heartedly and there isn’t anything to be scared about. The paranormal plot is mixed with facts about anorexia, which I believe is a good way to teach young girls (and boys) about a condition that affects more people than we realise. The author did a good job of combining the two.

Young girls will enjoy this story. It’s the first book in a series.

[K Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a kid in primary school and decided I'd revisit the series after learning a fourth book was published (and I never knew till this year.)

Eglantine is a paranormal mystery/detective-esque story that's rather straightforward, set in NSW, Australia, and was written by an Australian author.

Allie is eleven, presumably in Year 6, and her mum's kind of a hippy (which adds a rather humorous note to the story).

After moving to a new house and renovating it, they discover something weird is happening in her brother Bethan's room. One thing leads to another and the family comes to realise it's the ghost of a seventeen year old girl called Eglantine. Thus ensues the mystery and investigation.

It's a short read but it has its charms, and while the plot is relatively straightforward, Catherine Jinks nails the voice of Allie. There's no plot twists, no crazy antics, it's just a kid recounting the weird stuff that happened in her house, and the slightly weird people who show up trying to help her family.

Fortunately, it's not a stand-alone novel. There's three more Allie books that follow on from Eglantine, and the books were published over a decade ago so you don't have to wait for the next one.

[Gretchen Bernet-Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story for primary school students, a puzzling plot with a literary graffiti theme. I certainly would not want to stay in the old house Allie Gebhardt's parents bought and restored. Nor would I look inside her brother Bethan's room after ghostly writer Eglantine Higgins had been busy all night. Several quirky people try to solve the mystery, from putting talcum powder on the floor to using scientific equipment. There are new-age forays into the likes of wind chimes and feng shui but nothing seems to stop Eglantine's frenetic pace. The Gebhardt family are a tight-knit lot which I liked, they all pull together, and the spooky moments are coupled with sensible stuff which keep their characters real. Worth following other books in this series.

[Alyson Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love middle grade books, they just scratch an itch in me that misses my childhood reading. 😊
Allie and her family deal with a ghost that takes over her brothers bedroom, slowly covering the walls in the text of what seems like a forgotten fairytale.

Easy to digest and short to listen too, this book still deals with some harder issues in a target audience friendly way. I will continue with this series.

[Brooklyn N.]

this book wasn't my favorite. i liked the start but then it just got boring. i felt like the plot jut kept going on and on, like nothing new happened they just kept getting people to try and get the ghost out of the house. i think i would have liked the book better if they put different things in. people who like ghost story's, (obviously this book if non fiction) should read this book.

[Mohammad Abrar]

no clue!

[Kerryn Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of spooky fun perfect for middle and upper primary readers.

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

god i loved this book as a kid an UNREASONABLE amount. definitely the best in the series, i dont remember having any issues with the book at all. was a great read

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh

[Jeven Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allie Gebhardt and her family have decided to move because they didn’t like their old house, but their opinion soon changes when they start to live in the newly renovated home in a small town. Allie Gebhardt also though that shared a room with her brother was bad but when she learns that her brother Bethan is sharing a room with a ghost she realises it’s not so bad. Allie and her family are being haunted by a ghost called Eglantine Higgins, the ghost of a young girl who used to live in their house almost a hundred years ago. When mysterious writing on her brothers wall and will not go away after numerous coats of paint, Allie becomes detective in this tale and becomes determined to get to the bottom of it. When Allie and her family gets attention from people in the neighbourhood and even the local newspaper, they realise just how strange their house and the ghost is and want to find out what’s going on. This much loved and very entertaining ghost tale is aimed towards children the ages of 8-12 years old. This book reaches out to children from the ages of 8-12 because it leaves some unanswered questions, some that can be filled by the imagination of a child and it is not too long that the kid gets bored. This book is also written in the language that anyone above the 8 year old mark can read easily but still has the same impact of a full novel. At first I was a bit iffy about this book that started off a little boring but as I kept reading if finally got to be a very interesting novel. I would recommend this book to anyone that’s in for a very quick read and wants a good book. I enjoyed this book very much. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

[Hadi Wijaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has very a normal and plain story. No climax at all. But I like it, especially the background life. An old house in small town. A quite and peaceful backgorund and very relevant with the story. I like it.

The other thing that I like is about the content. Although it's a fiction, it seem very normal. The ghost is exist but it's not doing something unimaginable. Everything seems real and possible to happen.

The way the author bringing the story is somehow a little part that is confusing. She often jump into future and short time after that jump back to earlier future. For example:
"On Friday, the physic come. But before that on Thursday, I went to the school library ..."

It's okay, but if it's too often, it just make the reader have difficulties to arrange the correct forward plot. Or probably the author do that so it is recognized as real story told by Allie. You know when we told some story ourselves, sometime we jump from on time to another time irregularly just to fill up something that we miss. Probably Catherine just try to make the story seem naturally told by Allie like that.

Overall I like this story, it is not scary at all. A very soft and nice reading in my leisure time.

[Mender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook. It's a very short story, listened to while I was road tripping. It spends a lot of time working through possible real world explanations, which honestly I find tedious. This book isn't too bad about it, but it annoys me in books where they are obviously going to find out that it's really paranormal. Just don't bother, you know? If you're going to Scooby-Doo it, and it really is the guy who runs the theme park wearing a scary mask, then it's totally worthwhile. Otherwise you're just chewing up pages of book unnecessarily to come to a tediously obvious conclusion that none of it worked.

Anyway, this is set in Australia which is a nice change of pace for most books I read, and has actually sensible advice for what to do in a ghost haunting. And the ghost isn't a scary one, and the logic keeping a lid on things makes it seem like fun to imagine a ghost in your house. Not a bad kids book.

I remember really enjoying her Pagan series although not enough about them to give them star ratings, I must have been a teenager. If I ever get a chance to re-read them I'll add them to my read list. This didn't hit any of my buttons the way that did but I can see it being some grade 3 reader's favourite book for a year.

[Caspette · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an adult reading this book I didn't like the ending at all. I felt the story was building in a certain direct then it did a quick left turn and next thing I knew the books was finished. I felt like I was waiting for the big climax and it never happened.

I also had mixed feelings of the illness anorexia being used in the context of this book. While the author highlighted this illness and discussed symptoms etc it just didn't seem to fit in with the story. I thought there were lots of other illnesses the author may have used.

However reviewing this book for the intended age group I think this is a good book for the middle grade child. It is a good introduction to cosy style paranormal mysteries. The character is smart and fun, the story is not super scary (and I do not like scary books), and the story was paced quite well.

I probably won't continue with the series but I would recommend this book to kids who are interested in paranormal type books.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eglantine is paranormal fiction targeted at the middle grade reading audience. I chose the audio CD edition of this book which is narrated by Melissa Chambers. When Allie and her family move in to a house that appears to be haunted it's up to her to help solve the case and get her brother our of her room. Catherine Jinks did a great job of writing and researching this book, however, I felt it was short on scares and the ending was disappointing. The author never actually revealed many details of Eglantine's life nor was the reason for her haunting the family explored. Overall this was an enjoyable book which I would recommend to others.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first in a series of paranormal adventures. Rather than being tremendously creepy, it reminded me of the various ghost hunter shows on television. Allie's family has just moved into their new home, and everything is great until her younger brother Bethan notices lines of ghostly writing appearing on the walls of his bedroom and begins to have strange nightmares.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I image children around the age of 12 would enjoy reading this. Putting "paranormal" aside, I think it subtly tries to teach you to have a better personality. The story left with some unanswered questions but your own imagination can fill in the gap. I found this book quite enjoyable for a quick read to satisfy my cravings to read.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this as a teenager, maybe 14 - 15 years old and that i was really fascinating by it. So I decided to read it again and man did I understand some things wrong back then but now I fully experienced the story i am still thrilled by it

[Beckett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great cover art. Seriously boring book. Bummer. But I likes the visual of the writing on the wall....

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a very cute ghost story. And I do believe in ghosts.

[Cathy | A Case Full of Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really simple book, probably geared toward pre-teens. It was a little spooky, lots of fun, and a really fast read. I read it in just a few hours.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I thought this was going to be a rivitingly scary story, but it wasn't it was a bit boring but enjoyable nonetheelss,

[Wensday · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick easy read that I enjoyed. The story is simple, but left me with a smile when I finished.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the part when she is stolen

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio book r and kids in car

[Ivka_s_knihou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, fast-paced ghost story. I really liked it.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little ghost story. A great combination of supernatural elements and Victorian history.

[Lala · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok book, got boring after a while