BORING. I did not care about the characters, it was slow, and even after trying, unsuccessfully, to find one interesting passage, I gave up. Hardcover Blah! This one was dry like toast, a snoozer, boring and slow for me. The two star rating is ONLY because the author would whip out OCCASIONAL prose that were pretty. A sad disappointment of a book that could have been a gem. Oh well. Hardcover First sentence: There are the things that have been and the things that haven't happened yet.
Favorite quote: Do you ever wonder what a soul is made of? If it's moon dust or moonlight?
This was a short little book, that flowed weel and had an interesting story although I didn't find myself completely bonding with any of the characters. It took awhile to even have it sink in that the main character was a girl. I know her name was Katie, but still it just didn't register. Hardcover Katie used to have a perfect life. Then her mother died and ever since then Katie can't seem to fix the whole in her life and in her heart. Her father restores paintings but he can't restore her mother and so the two drift alone in a giant house, unable to talk about the past and unable to look forward. Katie's summer job, however, proves to be just the push that she needs to begin her life again. She spends her summer days working the gardens for an eccentric old lady, a lady that she has never seen and who is so completely shrouded in mystery that Katie can't help but dig into the past for some answers.
I immediately liked Katie. She's got a sassy voice, tinged with a bit of vulnerability. The combination was impossible to resist. As with all of Beth Kephart's books, the writing is lyrical and each sentence is a present in itself. Katie's house and the gardens where she works come alive and I could easily slip into her shoes, even though so much of her life is different from my own. Katie learns that we are all haunted by ghosts but that it doesn't have to define us. Nothing But Ghosts isn't necessarily a book with a lesson, yet it does leave us with the satisfaction of having learned from Katie.
The mystery and the unexpected friendships in this book were what I enjoyed the most. Katie's quest to discover more about Miss Martine is exciting and full of twists and surprises, and includes some help from the oh-so-chic librarian, Ms. McDermott, and Danny, the cute boy who works with her at the gardens. I loved the ending as well. It does what all books should do, provide hope for the character's future while not telling us every single thing that will happen in that future. Katie is a living character in my mind, someone that I might meet on the street or in a library one day. And there are so many other details, so many wonderful layers to this book—the glass bottles, the bird at the window, the paintings—I couldn't possibly write all of them down in this review. Just trust me and get your hands on a copy as soon as you can.
Review from Em's Bookshelf blog: http://emsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2009... Hardcover Meh. Started out with some potential, but then fizzled out. The author tried so hard to make this book poetic and symbolic, but it failed so miserably that I was kind of embarrassed for her. Maybe we'll see something good from her in the future, but this is not it. Hardcover
This book has one of those openings that forces you to jump in: “There are things that have been and the things that haven't happened yet. There is the squiggle of a line in between, which is the color of caution, the color of the bird that comes to my window every morning, rattling me awake with the hammer of its beak”
Katie might as well be living alone much of the time. Since her mother died, her father has immersed himself in his work, restoring old paintings out in his workshop. He tries, mostly by attempting to cook gourmet meals, but he's really just as lost inside as she is. Katie dealt with her mother's death from cancer by getting over-busy with clubs and the like at school, while breaking off communication with Jessica and Ellen, her longtime best friends because, as she says, “I didn't feel like explaining, I didn't want to answer their questions or to feel their pity.” When she decides to take a summer job working on the grounds of a nearby estate, owned by the mysterious Miss Martine who hasn't been seen in years, her life begins to evolve in ways she could never expect. She's working for Old Olson, a gruff and taciturn man who is the intermediary between the owner and the world. Among other members of the summer crew are two brothers, Danny, headed to Boston U. in the fall and Owen who, like Katie, will be a senior in the fall. There's an older couple, Ida and Reny, who have been married a long time and bicker in front of the rest of the crew without any hint of self consciousness.
Katie begins to wonder about her mysterious employer, a curiosity that Danny finds himself sharing, spurred in part by a growing realization that this sad, quiet girl is pretty special. Since no one has apparently seen Miss Martine since the great storm of 1954, does she exist? Is she still alive? Old Olson's behavior and defensiveness when her name comes up only fuels Katie and Danny's curiosity.
She turns to Miss McDermott, the town librarian who is so beautiful and well dressed, Katie can't understand why she's single and seems to have no boyfriends. She's also smart funny and doesn't bat an eyelash when Katie asks her if she can help solve the mystery surrounding Miss Martine. As luck would have it, someone has just donated five boxes of newspapers, photos and the like to the library. It is in making sense of these items that Katie begins to solve the mystery and start to make sense of her own life, ultimately pulling several other people nursing emotional wounds closer to a healing place.
This is a very sweet and soft tale. Part mystery, part healing, part love story and told in a nicely paced way. Katie and her father don't get everything they want or need by the end of the story, but both have healed sufficiently to make the rest of the journey in the reader's mind and that's just fine. Hardcover Nothing But Ghosts was absolutely beautiful. There was something so calming about this novel - I can't say that it was exciting necessarily; it is better described as engrossing.
The story unfolds so perfectly; I found the story to be compelling and engaging. There are two main plot lines in Ghosts: Katie's and that of the mysterious old woman Katie works for. Beth Kephart wove the two stories together perfectly to create just the right balance of past, present, and future.
I have never lost a parent, thank goodness, but I know many people my age that have. The closest experience that I can relate to losing a parent is losing my grandparents. Still, I could empathize with Katie's grief and confusion over the death of her mother; the disbelief that someone can be vibrant and full of life and then be gone forever. Even though my grandfather passed away a few months ago, I still forget that he is gone sometimes and when I remember and it hits me, I feel the pain of his loss all over again. I can only imagine that Katie, living in the house that she once shared with her mother, surrounded by her things, her room untouched, exactly the same as it was when she was living, and feeling distanced from her father, must feel. Kephart wrote this aspect of the novel particularly well.
I loved the mystery in this novel! Katie's quest to uncover the truth about the old woman who was a socialite in her youth, but has grown to be a recluse, was one of my favorite aspects of Nothing but Ghosts. I was amazed by the Kephart's skill as all the pieces of the puzzle slowly came together. I loved that I didn't figure out the secret until near the end of the novel, it is a bit anticlimatic when it is too easy to figure out the mystery. I love the fact that the mystery brings so many of the minor characters out of the background as well.
There is also a love story within Nothing but Ghosts. This aspect of the novel isn't really a main plot line, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. When I started the novel, I wasn't really sure that there would be a romantic plot line, so I was pleasantly surprised when one developed.
Ratings (Out of 10):
Plot: 10
Characters: 10
Writing: 10
Romance: 10
Originality: 10
Total: 50/50 (A!)
Nothing but Ghosts is an amazing novel and I will definitely be reading Kephart's other novels! Ghosts is a novel that I need to have a copy of on my bookshelf!
Hardcover After her mother’s death, Katie lives alone in their big old house with her father who is a bit of a mad genius. Her summer job is to work in the gardens at the estate of Miss Martine, a recluse who hasn’t been seen by the public in decades. As the gardeners are told to dig for a new gazebo, Katie realizes that something else may be going on. They just may be digging for something in particular. She begins to do research at the local library, hoping to solve the mystery of why Miss Martine disappeared. Just like her own mother disappeared after her death. Will solving this mystery help Katie cope with the sorrow and loss of her mother?
There are many ghosts in this book, hovering at the edges of the story, never fully viewed, but felt in every line. Kephart’s background as a poet shows through her exquisitely written prose. She manages to create nuance, pain, grief and wonder through her writing, capturing emotions at their most poignant. Here is one of my favorite lines of the novel, describing the estate they are working at:
Miss Martine’s is quiet as the stones down in the stream, quiet as the robin’s nest that Danny found the other day, which had been lived in, then abandoned.
What imagery, evoking a world unmoving in the river of life, empty, still and immovable. Yet paired with the fragility and hope of a bird’s nest. Just this one line offers multiple readings. The entire novel is like this.
Kephart has also created a mystery that is not a mystery. The mystery of Miss Maritine is not what this book is about. It is instead about Katie herself, her personal loss, her mother, her father and how she will find a way to continue beyond her paralysis of grief. So the mystery is secondary, another ghost in the story, that is useful to chase after but not the real reason we are here.
Katie is a great heroine. A girl who works as hard as the men, unafraid of dirt, who flies down dark roads on her bike without incident, and who is as brave as anyone could be when surrounded by the past. She breaks into unique territory as a heroine, a girl who is strong but not masculine, grief-stricken but not tragic. As a character, she is a testament to the delicacy of Kephart’s writing.
Highly recommended, this book is exceptional. It is one of the most well-written books of the year, worthy of National Book Award and Printz attention. Appropriate for 15-18 year olds. Hardcover When I finished reading this ARC (book sale date is June 23, 2009), I felt like I don't have enough vocabulary to describe how much I liked this book and why. I still don't think I can do it justice, but...
Katie has a summer job on the garden of her town's largest estate, home to a mysterious recluse named Miss Martine whom no one has seen in decades. When her crew is asked to dig a place for a gazebo, Katie starts some digging of her own at the local library. With the help of a very cool librarian, her art restoring father, and a friend from work, Katie tries to learn about Miss Martine's history.
The pacing of the plot is just right throughout. There's mystery, there are developing relationships, and there is emotion as Katie grieves for her recently deceased mother. But there is never sentimentality, and the language is always beautiful with amazing transitions from scene to imagery to remembrance.
This book is full of truth. From the very first sentences about the squiggle of a line between...the things that have been and the things that haven't happened yet flowing into the yellow color of caution and the bird that wakes Katie at her window each morning I knew this book would lead the reader someplace, and it more than delivers on that early promise.
I didn't want the story to end. I wanted to keep the characters on the pages in front of me. But when it did end, I just knew the characters were going to be more than okay, and I felt quite a bit better myself! Hardcover After the death of her mother, Katie takes a summer gardening job at the estate of town recluse Miss Martine who hasn’t been seen outside since she was 16. Katie herself is burdened with grief, but she has to wonder what kind of tragedy would make you voluntarily disappear from life. With the help of two brothers and a glamorous librarian, Katie begins to decode the mystery and gain the strength to go on.
I admit, ever since the death of my own mother when I was 19, I tend to shy away from books where the mother is recently deceased or dying. I’m just always afraid they’ll be too depressing, too sad to handle. But Beth has done a beautiful thing here – she takes us to the truth of what it’s like to deal with loss (the too-big house that feels empty, the withdrawing from friends, the keeping busy to dull the pain) and then lets her characters (and her readers) find comfort and a renewed sense of purpose.
The story elements, the well-drawn characters (Katie’s father, chic Ms. McDermott, and estate caretaker Old Olson were favorites), and spare, lyrical writing all contribute to making this a genuinely affecting reading experience. In fact, as far as books about grief go, I’d rate it up there with Kate DiCamillo’s THE TIGER RISING.
Hardcover
Ever since her mother passed away, Katie's been alone in her too-big house with her genius dad, who restores old paintings for a living. Katie takes a summer job at a garden estate, where, with the help of two brothers and a glamorous librarian, she soon becomes embroiled in decoding a mystery. There are secrets and shadows at the heart of Nothing but Ghosts: symbols hidden in a time-darkened painting, and surprises behind a locked bedroom door. But most of all, this is a love story—the story of a girl who learns about love while also learning to live with her own ghosts.
This is a heartfelt, lyrical tale from the National Book Award-nominated author of Undercover and House of Dance. Nothing but Ghosts