THE POLTER-GHOST PROBLEM

Three schoolmates recount their eerie encounters at a long-abandoned orphanage, making for a peculiar “what we did this summer” school project.

Aldo Pfefferkuchen, Pen Q. Blaisewell, and Jasper Yi struggle to find interesting things to include in their collective summer journal until a suspiciously pale boy leads them to a moldering building that once housed an orphanage. The trio should be terrified, but the ghost children—yes, there’s a group—need help. It’s weird that they appear young since most are the spirits of orphans who had moved away and died at ripe old ages. However, they were recently drawn back and trapped there by a poltergeist. Even stranger, the boys discover that the poltergeist is the toddler ghost of a bitter woman who died at over 100 years of age. A diarist and sufferer of verbal diarrhea, Aldo is the designated typist for their group project. His wit shines through as he faithfully describes his friends’ personalities and their wildly funny disagreements and dilemmas. It all makes for a laugh-out-loud, high-action read, complete with shrieking and notes in crayon from a frustrated entity trying to communicate about a mystery involving an inheritance and warped family history. Pen’s “Useful Index” appears at the end—a humorous nod to a running joke about his fondness for indexes. Oddities abound, as do astute observations about family dynamics and friendships, especially between the boys. Jasper’s surname cues him as Korean American; the other boys are minimally described.

A-plus entertainment.