Who's there? Book

14-year-old Drew (love that name for a female character!) and her 8-year-old brother Evan have just experienced an unthinkable tragedy: their parents died in a freak explosion at their house, and, not having any other family, they have to go live with an aunt and grandfather they never knew they had. The good thing is that these long-lost relatives live in a gorgeous sprawling estate called Rose Hill. And, though Grandfather is a curmudgeonly old man bed-ridden with leukemia, Aunt Jocelyn seems pretty cool. She's not warm and fuzzy, but she pays attention to Drew and Evan, and she doesn't make a fuss over the fact that Evan lost his ability to speak after the accident.

So they settle into Rose Hill. Evan spends a lot of time in his new bedroom with the door closed, but Drew explores the dusty old attic and Rose Hill's grounds. She does some of her exploring with the gardener, Will, who's about her age. They strike up a fast friendship, and Will starts to tell Drew about some of the ghostly goings-on at Rose Hill. Specifically, he's convinced that he saw a phantom face in one of the upstairs windows. After this revelation, Drew starts to experience some strange things herself - the strong smell of roses and frigid cold spots crop up when she's in either the attic or the writing room.

Acting as amateur sleuths, Drew and Will decide to figure out the identity of the ghost. They figure it has to be tied into Drew's family's hazy past - a past that no one (not her late father, and not Aunt Jocelyn) will talk about. Fortunately, a trip to the local library and a conversation with a chatty librarian is able to set the record straight. The librarian, a former classmate of Aunt Jocelyn's, reveals the tragic truth about the accident that claimed the lives of both Amalie Broderick (Drew's step-grandmother) and her stepson (Drew's uncle). Now Drew and Will are certain that Amalie Broderick is the one haunting Rose Hill, but they still haven't figured out why.

Once they pin down the ghost's identity, the haunting seems to grow more sinister. Drew is certain that the ghost wants to keep her out of the writing room, and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Drew is constantly terrified, and realizes that if she and Evan want to stay at Rose Hill, they have to get rid of Amalie's ghost. She and Will continue to do more sleuthing, trying desperately to figure out WHY Amalie is haunting Rose Hill and what they can do to stop it.
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This one has all the elements of a great ghost story: an old sprawling estate; a dusty attic filled with stuff from the past; forbidden rooms; a dark and mysterious family history. That said, it's pretty quiet for a ghost story, and the actual ghost isn't all that scary. It was a good mystery, though - I enjoyed watching Drew uncover and lock together pieces of her family's past, ultimately revealing the whole tragic story. The way Amalie's ghost leads a hypnotized Drew into the pond reminded me of Wait Till Helen Comes, and, indeed, I think this would be a good recommendation for anyone who enjoys Mary Downing Hahn's books.