A Ghost in the House by Betty Ren Wright

The over-the-top style is contagious, and black-and-white illustrations throughout add cartoony punchlines to various scenes. Spouting terms like plausible deniability and in flagrante delicto, Rex makes for a hilariously bombastic (if unlikable) first-person narrator. Will Rex become “a Sherlock without a Watson,” or can the two make amends in time to solve the mystery? This second outing effectively carries the “ghost-mist” torch from its predecessor without feeling too much like a formulaic carbon copy. For starters, Sami Mulpepper hugged him at a dance, and now she’s his “accidental girlfriend.” Even worse, Darvish develops one of what Rex calls “Game Preoccupation Disorders” over role-playing game Monsters & Mayhem that may well threaten the pair’s friendship. But the mystery is only one of Rex’s many roadblocks.

A ghost narwhal’s visit gives Rex his next opportunity in the form of the clue “bad water.” Rex enlists Darvish-his Pakistani American human best friend-and Drumstick-his “faithful (dead) chicken”-to help crack the case. In this sequel to The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter (2020), sixth grader Rex is determined to once again use his ability to communicate with dead animals for the greater good. 8-12)Īn animal ghost seeks closure after enduring aquatic atrocities.

Many of the motifs here will be comfortingly familiar to Wright's fans: a successful meld of family living and the satisfyingly scary supernatural. In a final hair-raising encounter, Sarah helps rout the ghost, which also leads to everyone's realization that they truly are a family. Afraid that she too will be doubted, Aunt Margaret keeps her own counsel, resolving to return to her nursing home. Difficulties increase as strange events begin to occur and Sarah's mother refuses to consider Sarah's suggestion that there is a ghost, implying that Sarah is lying, and forcing her and Aunt Margaret to cope alone with the escalating violence of a malevolent spirit that turns out to be from Aunt Margaret's youth. The family's financial crisis is somewhat alleviated by having a great-aunt come to live with them-with the result that Sarah must give up her dream bedroom and stay with crotchety Aunt Margaret while both parents are at work. Sarah's joy in a promising new life is threatened when her father loses his first good job.

A Ghost in the House by Betty Ren Wright