May 25 2008
“Don’t Call Them Ghosts” by Kathleen McConnell
I ran across Don’t Call Them Ghosts: The Spirit Children of Fontaine Manse on accident at the library tonight, and decided that it looked interesting enough to preview on my 15 minute break. I was instantly hooked. It was almost physically painful to close the book after 15 minutes - I wanted to know what happened next!! I took the book home and finished it in about 2 hours (it’s a pretty quick read - simple narration, and only 255 pages long).
The true story is of a family who moved into a house and two days later found out (in a very dramatic fashion) that it was haunted by ghosts. As time passed, Mrs. McConnell eventually figured out that there were three of them, and they were all children. Although she was quite terrified of them at first, she eventually realizes that the children are harmless, and she ends up calling them her “other children” and loves them as much as she loves her own children.
Most ghost stories are about terrible hauntings where the ghosts do horrible things to the inhabitants of the house - this book was not like that in the slightest. Sweet, simple, and cozy is how I would describe both the book and the author. 
She was quite hilarious when it came to writing up her inner dialog - she would talk along to herself, calling herself a “dumb butt” for not understanding something fast enough, and often said that she was just a simple country girl. Mrs. McConnell is unbelievably believable in this book. I could see myself curling up with a cup of hot cocoa and talking with her like an old friend - she comes across as being very approachable and down to earth. A down-to-earth, salt-of-the-earth woman who just so happens to love three children she can’t see or hear. 
My only small quibble with the book is the fact that there are so many mistakes in the printing of it - misplaced quotation marks are the worst offenders, although misplaced apostrophes and commas also rate high. I don’t know if this was a mistake on the author’s part or the layout person in charge of printing, but either way, the editor in me had a hard time with that. But overall, this is one of the best books that I’ve read in a very long time. I give it 5 out of 5 stars, and highly recommend that if you’re interested in ghosts or spirits at all, to pick this one up. And make sure to pick up a box of Kleenexs too!
Two giant thumbs up!
Havs
