Maddie's Ghost

by Carol Fisher Saller

Overview

Finalist, 2024 Society of Midland Authors Award for Children's Fiction

"Irresistible. . . . Rich with exciting clues"!—EDITOR'S PICK, Publishers Weekly Booklife

 

Twelve-year-old Madeleine "Lainie" Stanton is about to make headlines. She was the first baby born at the new millennium, and a local TV station wants an interview. But when the reporter uncovers the dark history of Lainie's great-grandmother Maddie, who was executed for murder, the interview takes a dangerous turn.
Determined to clear her ancestor's name, Lainie and her two best friends embark on a thrilling race against time. Following clues left by Madeleine herself, they unravel a shocking mystery that has been buried for decades.
Set in a twisty old house, "Maddie's Ghost" is heartwarming upper-middle-grade fiction. With themes of family, friendship, and a touch of humor, this story will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.
A must-read for fans of "The Parker Inheritance" and "The Dollhouse Murders."
 

"This tantalizing tale will engage readers from the first page to the last." —Publishers Weekly Booklife (Editor's Pick)

"A fine mystery with winsome characters and a complicated old house." —Kirkus Reviews

"An exciting exploration of history, justice, and the long-lasting impact of the past." —Readers' Favorite

"A great read with a touch of paranormal for the designated age group and beyond." —Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Maddie's Ghost is a story with heart, humor, family, friends, and a mansion with hidden nooks and crannies, from the award-winning author of EDDIE'S WAR and THE BRIDGE DANCERS.

 

Product Details

BN ID:	2940167487062
Publisher:	Carol Saller
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Sold by:	Draft2Digital
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	553,072
File size:	544 KB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Carol Fisher Saller lives in Chicago. Honors for her children's books include Kirkus Best, Bank Street Best, Horn Book Recommended Verse, NCSS/CBC Notables, the Carl Sandburg Award for Children's Literature, the Midland Authors Award for Children's Fiction, and Chicago Public Library's Best Teen Fiction..

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Editorial Reviews

2024-03-11
In Saller’s middle-grade novel, a tween and her friends race against time to restore her great-grandmother’s good name.

The Stanton family—11-year-old Lainie, Lainie’s widowed dad, Grandpa Jack, Uncle Daniel, and Uncle Patrick—live in a quirky old mansion in Kenwood, Ohio, and have an unusual tragedy in their past. Back in the 1930s, Lainie’s great-grandmother and namesake, Madeleine, was convicted of murdering her supervisor, a pharmacologist. Maddie pleaded self-defense, but the jury discounted her plea and sentenced her to death. After a TV reporter tricks Lainie into an interview about Maddie, the tween swears on air to clear her great-grandmother’s name. A lot depends on Maddie’s little blue diary, which has gone missing, along with some loose papers inside it that contain key evidence. Complicating things further is the fact that Maddie’s youngest child, Cicely (aka Gracie), hid the book decades ago, fearing her mother’s anger for her drawing in it; the child was kidnapped shortly after Maddie’s death, and was only found in an asylum years later. As Lainie and school friends Elle Mendez and Seth Watson investigate, the fun is in the details of discovery, as well as the crush that Lainie has on dreamy Seth (and her angst about it). This is not Saller’s first foray into the mystery genre, which she knows her way around well, but it does stretch credulity a bit that, in the mid-20th century, the state of Ohio would have so easily executed a widow with four young children who’d never committed a crime before. The characterization of the fiercely protective Stanton household is appealing, however, and Saller’s descriptions of their house as a Gothic Victorian treasure of hidden hallways, stairways, cubbyholes, and hidden levers to open hidden doors are wonderful. Every few chapters, the book includes check-ins about the fortunes of the little blue diary, which plays a key role in the narrative.

A fine mystery with winsome characters and a complicated old house, but one that requires some suspension of disbelief.

Kirkus Reviews