Reviews

Christina's Ghost by Betty Ren Wright

kitbreshears's review

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book scared the hell out of me as a kid, and on a re-read I still see why. A short book, but a quick and fun spooky read for a young audience.

stacyrenee's review

adventurous dark lighthearted sad fast-paced

3.0

Children’s

Christina is supposed to be staying with her grandmother while her parents are in Alaska but she ends up staying with her uncle in a big spooky house that belongs to one of his teacher friends while her grandmother is on the hospital. After seeing a ghost boy, she soon learns that terrible things have happened in the house! 


I read this as a kid and remember the cover quite clearly but the story doesn’t match up at all with what I thought this was about! In my memory (which is probably just a different ghost story that I don’t remember the title of because I read tons of ghost stories as a kid) this was about a little girl who went to stay with someone and makes a ghost friend that urges the MC to find her body so she can be at rest. She finds the remains in a hollow log in the forest. So different! 

wombat_88's review

dark lighthearted mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

saydenie's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I remember this being one of my first mystery chapter books and loving it. I reread it recently and it holds up pretty well.

remigves's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

emilye's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

juliezantopoulos's review

4.0

This book was a childhood favorite of mine, complete with my name on the inside cover. I worry a little about young Julie because this isn't a "happy" book. It's about Christina (Chris) who is a tomboy whose parents have left her and her younger sister to go on a trip to Alaska. They leave the girls to their grandmother who lands herself in the hospital and the girls are split up. Christina to go with her sullen solitary uncle who values women who cook, clean, and know their place. It's not an easy relationship between the two of them but 10 year old Chris shows amazing maturity in the situaiton. She also shows immense bravery in the face of.a haunting in the house.

It covers some rough topics, shows the spirit and independence of young Chris, and the evolving relationships of family. I still really liked it though some parts did NOT age well. Young Julie (I was 7 when this came out and I'm certain it was a book fair purchase so I probably read it right at that age) was a DARK soul. I'm not sure how I slept because as an adult reading it at night sucked. I still loved it, though.