Book Review of #2 The ghost in the graveyard by Francine Pascal

Name of Book: The ghost in the graveyard

Author: Francine Pascal

ISBN: 0-553-15801-5

Publisher: Bantam

Part of a Series: Sweet Valley Twins Super Chillers: #2 (Prequels the christmas ghost, sequels: carnival ghost, ghost in bell tower, curse of ruby necklace, etc.)

Type of book: Sweet Valley Twins, 1980s,  young adult,

Year it was published: 1990

Summary:

Strange things have been happening to Sam Sloane ever since he moved from San Francisco to Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield's neighborhood in Sweet Valley. He can't figure out why everything in town looks so familiar—or why he's mysteriously drawn to a crumbling old mansion in town. When he visits a cemetary in the dead og night and sees a ghost who looks just like him, he tumed to Elizabeth and jessica for help.

At first the twins think Sam is imagining things. After all, who believes in ghosts? But the more the girls get to know their new friend, the more they feel he's telling the truth. Something is out there. The twins are going to have to do a little ghost hunting of their own. But what happens if thye do discover a ghost? Or, worse, what happens if it discovers them?

Characters:

The characters are two dimensional and appear to be simplistic and whatnot. There's not a lot to say about the characters in fact, except no fainting thank goodness. (In Gothic novels women always faint,) they also don't seem to learn anything from the experiences.

Theme:

I'm not sure what I should have learned from reading the book.

Plot:

This is written in third person narrative, from the twins' and Sam's point of view. It tends to be self explanatory and it's not necessary to read other books to understand it. (In fact, this is self-stand alone, but then Super Chillers, with exception of chritmas ghost are.) This is predictable though.

Author Information:

Francine Pascal (born May 13, 1938) is an author best known for creating the Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High was the backbone of the collection, and was made into a popular television series.[2] [3] There were also several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they have remained popular such that several titles have been re-released in recent years. (From Wiki.)


Opinion:

When compare it to other Super Chillers this isn't as good. If this is a parody of something, I'm not sure what its a parody of. This is a quick and entertaining read and has an aura of a version of Gothic novels. (Rumbling mansion, supernatural events, family curses, death and life, etc.) This book is better than Curse of the Golden Heart or later Super Chillers. (In personal opinion, books 1-5 are good; books 6-9 are terrible.)

3 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)