Golden & Grey: An Unremarkable Boy And A Rather Remarkable Ghost [Anglais] [Relié]

Grade 3-7 -A friendless 11-year-old who gets picked on at school meets a ghost without a job. When Grey Arthur decides to become Tom's "Invisible Friend," things change for both of them. For some unexplained reason, the boy can suddenly see all kinds of ghosts and meets quite a few. In the novel's most amusing moments, Arthur describes the assorted ghost types to his new friend. These include Sadness Summoners, Faintly Reals, and several varieties of Poltergeists including Paperwork and Sock Harvesting specialists. When a con man posing as a psychiatrist kidnaps Tom, several of his supernatural friends join forces in the rescue effort. The intersection of ghosts and humans offers some funny moments, but the plot seems contrived as it veers from school problems to kidnapping. Tom is essentially a dull character; he whines frequently, and reacts to events but shows little individual personality. His total trust in the con man stretches credulity, and his parents come off as equally dense in that episode. The villain also veers out of character, foolishly trying to help a cat down from a tree in the midst of his grand evil scheme. Arthur is more fun, but the friendship between ghost and boy is not especially compelling. The inventive world of spirits portrayed here is the humorous draw, but an inconsistent plot and undeveloped characters prevent this from being a top choice in the ghostly humor field.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
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Gr. 4-6. Misfit ghost Grey Arthur and 11-year-old Tom Golden (a frequent scapegoat of bullies at his new school) share the belief that life is unfair, which somehow magically bonds them together. Arthur becomes Golden's "invisible friend," and Tom develops the ability to see ghosts--which contributes to their friendship but causes problems when some Screamers and a Sadness Summoner frighten Tom. The Goldens consult a child psychiatrist to make things right; unfortunately, the charlatan just wants to use Arthur to win the lottery. Arnold's debut novel gets off to a slow start, but children who stick with the story will be rewarded by a rousing finale that serves up just deserts and involves the efforts of the entire ghostly community. The characters are multidimensional, and Arnold's alternate reality is well thought out: her ghosts are individuals who train for a variety of jobs--among them, poltergeist and chain rattler. Briticisms abound, but that won't deter anyone who has read Harry Potter. Kay Weisman
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Golden & Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost) actually evolved from a story I wrote when I was ten years old for a school writing competition. It involved a mildly inept ghost called Boo, and his inability to be scary. Fifteen years later, nudged on by a BBC online competition, I dug the story out from the murky recesses of my memory, and ran at it again. The opening paragraph I concocted won, and from there I was contacted by an agent, introduced to a publisher, and my feet haven't really hit the ground since.

I'm currently working on a third book, and for those that are curious, the repetitive life cycle of an author is this:

Stage One: Surround yourself with pens and notebooks, daydream a lot.
Stage Two: Surround yourself with cups of tea, pages of notes, and type it all up.
Stage Three: Surround yourself with highlighter pens and post-it notes, and edit the work.
Stage Four: Go back to Stage One.

So I'm firmly entrenched in Stage One again, leaving a trail of ink stains and doodles in my wake.

I live in Canterbury with my partner Kieran, and also my new cat, Ula. When I'm not writing, chances are I'm either watching Neighbours, ordering my cat down from the tree opposite my house, going to car boot sales, or watching a live band down my local pub.