James and his family move into an old cottage, in which James gets the attic for his bedroom. It's been closed off for years, and when the workers open it up to renovate, they unwittingly let loose the spirit of a sorcerer, Thomas Kemp, from the 1660s. The spirit is moody and demanding, and tries to get James to help him re-establish his business in the village. When James resists, Thomas gets testy and starts breaking things, for which James gets blamed by his parents. He finds a local carpenter who is also a bit of an expert on spirits on the side, and together they try to put the ghost to rest.
This is a great ghost story for kids - it's fun and well-written, and the characters are interesting and easy to become friends with, plus the story isn't scary really at all. Definitely recommended. ( )

I loved this delightful, charming book about a boy and his ghost. I bought it as a gift but could not stop reading once I had started. Lively's prose is, well, lively (sorry), and the book is shot through with generosity of spirit, wit, humour, and warmth. This was light without being trite. It's how a children's book should be. It also makes me want to seek out more of Lively's writing. ( )

What a delightful, fun ghost story. What I really enjoyed about this story is not so much the ghost aspect - which was still fun - but the great way that Lively captures the wonderment of being a young boy and living with his parents and sister in an old cottage in a small Oxfordshire town. Its a quaint, more simplistic life than is presented on the pages than the hustle and bustle of today and I can see why this book would be a popular one for children young and old..... I consider myself one the old ones. ;-)

As for the writing style, I love that Lively does not dumb down or talk down to her reading audience, which give the story such a great audience age range. It also has a somewhat timeless quality to it. Even the small town of Ledsham is going through its growing pains, with the older center of town finding itself being surrounding by newer housing communities, leaving James' sister Helen pining to live in one of the newer houses like her friends do and not the centuries old East End Cottage her family now calls home.

Overall, a quick and rather enjoyable read. ( )

The charming story of an intelligent, sensitive boy with a vivid imagination, and a rather cantankerous, disillusioned ghost. In many ways it reminded me of my childhood, with the puddings and country lanes, the way we were before computers and multimedia. A lavishly illustrated edition. ( )

Wonderful language! Poor kid, this is a true tale of injustice. The central character has to endure punishments for the actions of a ghost and no one believes in ghosts. A great story and terrific writing. ( )