cover image Golden & Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost)

Golden & Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost)

Louise Arnold, . . S&S/McElderry, $15.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-689-87473-4

British author Arnold's sparkling, crisply written first novel chronicles the friendship forged between Tom Golden, an 11-year-old English boy and outcast at his new school, and Grey Arthur, an earnest ghost who has failed to find his calling in his centuries-long existence. "There are more different types of ghost than there are different colors of crayon, and yet Grey Arthur... wasn't scary enough to be a Screamer, wasn't naughty enough to be a Poltergeist, wasn't melancholy enough to be a Sadness Summoner." As the ghost sits on a park bench, "watching the Real World go by," he sighs "Life isn't fair." At that exact same moment, Tom utters these identical words after returning from school, his eye blackened by Big Ben. Since ghosts "hear by emotion," Grey Arthur keys into the boy's misery, seeks him out and decides to become "Tom's Invisible Friend." In a pivotal scene, the ghost figures out how to intercede and keep Big Ben from hurling a broken bottle at Tom, only to see Tom retreat and get hit by a car (he survives). Suddenly the boy then can see Grey Arthur—as well as the other ghosts that make entertaining appearances throughout. The plot thickens when a fake psychiatrist kidnaps Tom in order to have Grey Arthur rig the lottery; the ghost and his fellow spirits cook up an amusing rescue. Kids will find this cast of visible and invisible characters thoroughly engaging and their tale rather remarkable indeed. Ages 8-12. (July)