There's A Dead Person Following My Sister Around

There's A Dead Person Following My Sister Around

Juvenile Chiller
"No long-lost relatives have come to visit.
Nobody died.
Halloween was five months past.
But suddenly we had a ghost."
Aside from big brother Zach, Ted, narrator of Vivian Vande
Velde's There's A Dead Person Following My Sister Around, considers
nothing about his family to be weird. They live in an old house, but
one that's too renovated to look spooky. They live in the city, not
the creepy boonies. He's covering Luxembourg, the most boring country
in the world, for a school social studies fair. Nothing there to
attract spectral attention.
Only one day his little sister, Vicki, starts talking about a
friend, Marella, whom nobody else in the family can see. She spends a
lot of time carrying on what seem to be one sided conversations. She
starts sleeping with a hammer under her pillow to protect herself from
a "bad lady" who can walk through walls.
Zach, no fan of siblings, claims Vicki was dropped on her head
as a baby. Ted is convinced that she simply has an invisible friend...
...until his older cousin, Jackie, tells him of seeing similar
apparitions at his home eight years earlier. She knew they were
ghosts. And she's sure something has them "stirred again."
Ted becomes alarmed when the ghosts begin to lift and toss
around material objects. He begins to wonder what else they can do.
You'll have to read the book to find out.
On a purrrsonal note, recently I'd become aware of how much UMaine
students are doing to curb COVID. I decided that a large card with
lots of signatures would be a good way to show appreciation for their
hard work. I arranged for a table in the union. Yesterday I made the
card and tabled for signatures. It was easy. People were happy to
have a chance to sign. When I delivered the card the person I handed
it off to looked astounded. And I'm sure the students will be
pleased. So I am quite proud of my little project. (Jules)
I haz a good hooman. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to student nurses everywhere. One of
the bravest things anyone can do is commit to and work toward becoming
a nurse during a pandemic.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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