- Subjects
- Genres
- Bildungsromans
- Published
-
New York :
Farrar Straus Giroux
2018.
- Edition
- First edition
- Language
- English
- Physical Description
- 243 pages ; 22 cm
- ISBN
- 9780374307561
0374307563
9781509886432
1509886435 - Main Author
Gr 5–7—Ellie Charles has been best friends with Marley Winters since they were babies. They have perfect families Ellie has a mom and a dad, and Marley has her two dads. They are both happy and life is good. Then, at age eight, Ellie's parents separate and her dad moves out of the house two days before Christmas. Ellie's world flips upside down and she makes up her mind to never be weak or show emotions for others. She believes that to be successful, one needs to fit in with the right crowd, be mean, and have very little regard for others' feelings. She is successful in doing just that and becomes the most feared and most popular girl in her middle school. In so doing, Ellie forgets the traditions she and her mother have had through years—making sourdough bread together and spending time with Marley's family. The new Ellie humiliates her best friend and even "ghosts" her. Because of this, Marley and her dads move out of the neighborhood, and she transfers to a new school. When an accident happens, it forces Ellie to relive her life and to see herself through new eyes, reminiscent of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The "Girl in Black" takes Ellie through her life's journey, from beginning and gives her a glimpse of her future. Ellie is not impressed with what she sees and must act to change the course of her future. An interesting take on a classic narrative, though the first half of the book is slow. For readers who stick with it, the ending is well earned and satisfying. VERDICT A secondary purchase or where libraries are in need of more middle grade fiction about friendship trouble and bullying.—Valentine Muyumba, Terre Haute, Indiana State University Copyright 2018 School Library Journal.
After hitting her head, Ellie Charles, thirteen, encounters a mysterious girl who takes her to moments in her past that explain how she became a manipulative, unhappy person in a story reminiscent of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."
Review by Publisher Summary 2Using her popular reputation as the smartest, best-looking and best-dressed kid in school to get away with being a bully, Ellie encounters a ghost who shows her the past, present and future to caution her to change her ways. By the author of the Maggie Brooklyn Mysteries. Simultaneous eBook.
Review by Publisher Summary 3Ellie Charles ghosted her best friend—and her actions come back to haunt her. A heartwarming and funny middle-grade story of redemption from Leslie Margolis.Thirteen-year-old Ellie Charles has everything going for her: she’s the smartest, prettiest, best-dressed, and most popular kid at Lincoln Heights Middle School. She’s also the meanest, by design. Ellie’s got sharp edges, which she uses to keep herself at the top of the social food chain. But one night, hours before her school’s winter dance, a frightening accident leads her to encounter a ghost who just might change everything. This ghost, of a girl dressed all in black, makes Ellie visit her own past, present, and future—reliving her parents’ divorce, her struggles in school, and worst of all, her massive falling-out with her best friend, Marley. Can what Ellie sees inspire her to change her ways? And is a new perspective enough to save her life?