{"id":26051,"date":"2015-01-09T00:11:17","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T04:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=26051"},"modified":"2015-01-09T00:19:37","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T04:19:37","slug":"review-of-the-swallow-by-charis-cotter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=26051","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Swallow, by Charis Cotter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"swallow_large\"<\/a>The Swallow<\/p>\n

A Ghost Story<\/em><\/p>\n

by Charis Cotter<\/p>\n

Tundra Books, 2014. 318 pages.
\nStarred Review
\n2014 Cybils Finalist<\/a>, Speculative Fiction for Elementary and Middle Grades<\/a>
\n2014 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>, #11 Children\u2019s Fiction<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think of myself as liking ghost stories, but this didn\u2019t feel like a typical ghost story to me. This is a cozy friendship story and a girl-in-a-big-family-finding-a-friend story.<\/p>\n

Sections in this book alternate between the voices of Polly and Rose. Their houses are next door to one another, and it turns out that their attics adjoin. The houses overlook the cemetery.<\/p>\n

Rose has always been able to see ghosts, and she hates it. Polly has always wanted to see a ghost, and she isn\u2019t sure that Rose isn\u2019t one herself. She\u2019s so pale and otherworldly.<\/p>\n

Polly says:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always wanted to see a ghost. More than anything. I keep watch at my window for hours, I go for walks in the cemetery almost every day after school and I read all the ghost books I can find at the Parliament Street Library.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rose says:<\/p>\n

I never want to see a ghost again. I\u2019m sick of it. Ladies all in white who follow me down the street, sad men in suits who sit at the back of the bus, children in nightgowns floating out hospital windows \u2013 I wish they would all disappear.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rose hasn\u2019t seen any ghosts, for some reason, since her hospital stay a few months ago. But then, when she hears Polly through the wall of her attic, she thinks they\u2019re back. Polly, after hearing Rose\u2019s voice, thinks she\u2019s finally met a ghost.<\/p>\n

Rose says, <\/p>\n

I felt sick to my stomach. I was not used to invisible ghosts. And I certainly was not used to ghosts that talked so much. Especially out loud.<\/p>\n

My heart sank. I hadn\u2019t seen one ghost since I\u2019d got home from the hospital, and I had really hoped they were gone forever. And now here was a ghost, right in my attic, in my own special nest. Where one came, the rest would follow, and I just knew I\u2019d go stark raving mad if I couldn\u2019t keep them away from me.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me,\u201d said the ghost, \u201cdid you die a horrible death? Are you doomed to wander the ghostly regions between the land of the living and the life beyond?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStop playing games,\u201d I said. \u201cYou know I\u2019m not a ghost. You\u2019re the ghost, and you\u2019re pretending to think I\u2019m a ghost to drive me crazy. It isn\u2019t going to work. Go away. All I want to do is sit in my attic and read my books and sing my songs in peace. Is that too much to ask?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo ghosts read?\u201d asked the ghost. \u201cThat\u2019s very interesting. Do you have to turn the pages or can you sort of absorb the story by holding the book and pulling the words into your head?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI \u2013 am \u2013 not \u2013 a \u2013 ghost!\u201d I said slowly and firmly. \u201cGhosts don\u2019t read! They\u2019re ethereal. They haunt people. They follow them down the street, they watch them when they\u2019re doing their homework, they lurk behind gravestones, they hide in people\u2019s attics \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cFor someone who says they\u2019re not a ghost, you seem to know an awful lot about them,\u201d said the ghost.<\/p>\n

I opened my mouth but no words came out. This was the most infuriating ghost I had ever met.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love the part \u2013 in the next chapter \u2013 where they figure out what\u2019s actually going on. Rose had gotten frustrated and shouted out, \u201cMY NAME IS ROSE MCPHERSON AND I LIVE AT 43 CEMETERY LANE AND I AM TWELVE YEARS OLD AND I AM NOT DEAD!\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues:<\/p>\n

It felt good to lose my temper. I made a lot of noise, but the ghost didn\u2019t seem at all put out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait. Where did you say you live?\u201d she asked calmly.<\/p>\n

\u201c43 CEMETERY LANE!\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n

Silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHit the wall again,\u201d suggested the ghost.<\/p>\n

THUMP.<\/p>\n

\u201cUmm . . . Ghost?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy name is Rose!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUmmm . . . Rose?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI live at 41 Cemetery Lane. Next door.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took me a minute to figure it out. \u201cYou mean you\u2019re in your own attic? On the other side of the wall?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d replied the ghost. \u201cI guess you\u2019re not a ghost after all.\u201d She sounded disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why is it I can hear you so clearly?\u201d I asked. \u201cAs if you were right here beside me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am right here beside you,\u201d she said, starting to tap against the wall. \u201cThis wall must be really thin, not like the brick wall downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat must be it,\u201d I said. A great feeling of relief swept over me and I spoke without thinking. \u201cSo you\u2019re not a ghost either. You must be one of the dreadful Lacey children who live next door.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho says we\u2019re dreadful?\u201d asked the girl.<\/p>\n

Oops. \u201cUm \u2013 my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d said the girl. \u201cWell \u2013 she\u2019s right. We are.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The girls agree to meet in the cemetery \u2013 and then find a grave with Rose\u2019s name on it. Rose is convinced she\u2019s not a ghost, but who is Winnifred Rose McPherson, who died at twelve years old, 40 years earlier?<\/p>\n

The girls build a friendship. They research this other ghost. And then they find a way to go secretly into each other\u2019s attics. But Rose\u2019s home does have a ghost \u2013 and she\u2019s angry, and doesn\u2019t seem to want Polly to go into her attic.<\/p>\n

This book is indeed a ghost story \u2013 but it\u2019s also a friendship story, and a story that warmed my heart, despite the ghostly chill.<\/p>\n

chariscotter.com<\/a>
\ntundrabooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/swallow.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a book sent to me by the publisher to evaluate for the Cybils Awards.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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