Golden and Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost) Book

Grey Arthur is a ghost who hasn't found his place in the world. Tom Golden is a boy who doesn't fit in at school. When Tom and Grey Arthur mutter the same three words, "Life isn't fair," at exactly the same moment, a connection is made between them. Suddenly Grey Arthur knows what he must do: He must become Tom's Invisible Friend.

It seems like such a brilliant idea! Grey Arthur can take teasing signs off Tom's back, make sure he has a pen in class, keep the bullies at bay, and generally take care of everything a best friend would do. He feels a great satisfaction in helping his new friend (despite the fact that Tom doesn't even know he exists), but then everything changes when an accident gives Tom the ability to see Grey Arthur and the rest of the ghost world. Now everyone wants a piece of Tom! Poltergeists, Faintly Reals, Sadness Summoners, Snorgles, Chain Rattlers...they're all lined up for their moment with the famous Tom Golden. Add two confused parents, a kidnapping, and a few embarrassing moments at school, and soon Tom and Grey Arthur are pushed to their limit, leading them to discover what true friendship is all about.

Louise Arnold's fantastic, funny, heartwarming debut novel will have readers laughing out loud and cheering as Grey Arthur and Tom, outcasts in their separate worlds, join forces to turn their luck around.

Publishers Weekly

British author Arnold's sparkling, crisply written first novel chronicles the friendship forged between Tom Golden, an 11-year-old English boy and outcast at his new school, and Grey Arthur, an earnest ghost who has failed to find his calling in his centuries-long existence. "There are more different types of ghost than there are different colors of crayon, and yet Grey Arthur... wasn't scary enough to be a Screamer, wasn't naughty enough to be a Poltergeist, wasn't melancholy enough to be a Sadness Summoner." As the ghost sits on a park bench, "watching the Real World go by," he sighs "Life isn't fair." At that exact same moment, Tom utters these identical words after returning from school, his eye blackened by Big Ben. Since ghosts "hear by emotion," Grey Arthur keys into the boy's misery, seeks him out and decides to become "Tom's Invisible Friend." In a pivotal scene, the ghost figures out how to intercede and keep Big Ben from hurling a broken bottle at Tom, only to see Tom retreat and get hit by a car (he survives). Suddenly the boy then can see Grey Arthur-as well as the other ghosts that make entertaining appearances throughout. The plot thickens when a fake psychiatrist kidnaps Tom in order to have Grey Arthur rig the lottery; the ghost and his fellow spirits cook up an amusing rescue. Kids will find this cast of visible and invisible characters thoroughly engaging and their tale rather remarkable indeed. Ages 8-12. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.