by Lauren Oliver
ages: 9+
First sentence: “On the third night after the day her father died, Liesl saw the ghost.”
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Liesl is all alone in the world. Her father has just died, and not only is her stepmother keeping Liesl locked in the attic, she wouldn’t even let her say goodbye to her beloved father. Given this, Liesl is about to give up entirely on life, when the ghost appears in her room, drawn by the light. Po — its neither boy nor girl, having been on the Other Side long enough to lose its identity — and its companion, Bundle (neither dog nor cat, but both), show up to keep Liesl company.

This little visit changes Liesl’s life entirely: she discovers a friend in Po, and then given courage by Po’s conversations with Liesl’s father, she decides to take her father’s ashes back to the house where she was born to bury them. This leads to an adventure: another friend, Will; some mix-ups; and the Greatest Magic in the World.

It’s a quiet, sweet little book, with just a dab of magic, about dealing with loss and finding happiness again. It’s a very hopeful book; as Oliver points out in the afterword, books like these are about finding the happy ending that life often denies us. There are Messages in the book, but woven in the old-fashioned storytelling, thankfully not blatantly beating us over the head. It’s a grim tale to begin with: shades of Cinderella, a gray and dark world filled with adults who actively dislike children. However, there is a happy ending: the bad guys get their comeuppance, Liesl finds a new family, and there is sunshine and gladness in the world again.

All which brings a little sigh of contentment when you finish the book.