Thursday, November 3, 2011

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol



   Anya is kind of a loner.  She doesn't have many friends at school and she longs for a change.  One day while walking in the woods, Anya accidentally falls down an abandoned well shaft.  It's the last place she expected to find a friend, but down at the bottom of the well, Anya meets a ghost named Emily.  When Anya is rescued from the well she brings Emily's ghost with her, and together they go to school, talk about boys, share secrets, and Emily becomes Anya's new "roommate."  But Anya soon realizes that Emily's story is more sinister than she could have imagined, and that her new "friend" isn't much of a friend at all.

   This story is written in graphic novel format, so it was a very quick read.  Vera Brosgol is the writer and illustrator for Anya's Ghost and she did an amazing job.  Neil Gaiman even gave it his stamp of approval.  This book provides a unique take on the lonely/outcast teen story as Anya learns important life lessons through her experience with death, and it's a great read for just about any age.