Sonderbooks Book Review of The Bagpiper's Ghost

Reviewed July 7, 2003.
Harcourt, San Diego, 2002. 129 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF YOL)

The Bagpiper’s Ghost is the third book in Jane Yolen’s Tartan Magic series. In this one, Jennifer and her twin Peter make plans to go to a graveyard at midnight to see a ghost. Big mistake. A vengeful spirit takes possession of Peter’s body, and Jennifer must figure out how to free him.

I liked each book of this series a little more than the one before. The characters are growing on me. Jennifer and Peter, as twins, have always been close, but now are growing apart as they enter the teenage years. I like their little sister Molly, who acts as a four-year-old does, sweet but annoying. I especially like the talking dog and talking horse that they picked up in the first book.

Here’s an entertaining, quick-reading tale. Again, it seems perfect for kids in the middle grades. It’s not tremendously complex, but provides a magical tale with danger and suspense.

Other books by Jane Yolen:

The Wizard's Map
The Pictish Child

Sword of the Righful King
Sleeping Ugly
Take Joy: A Book for Writers
Mightier Than the Sword: World Folktales for Strong Boys
The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen

With Robert J. Harris:
Girl in a Cage
Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazons

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

*****The Bagpiper's Ghost*

by Jane Yolen