The Girl With the Ghost Machine Delivers Moving Spookiness

When twelve year old Emmaline Beaumont’s mother died, her father retreated down to the basement of their home to build a machine that would bring her back as a ghost. After several years of being neglected and forgotten while gradually losing her father to the machine, Emmaline realizes that if she wants him back either she must make the machine work herself, or destroy it. She herself wants closure, but she can’t help but long to see her mother again. She ventures down to the basement to confront the vast machine, and tries to kill it by pouring a cup of tea into it innards. Instead of breaking, it works, and  brings her mother back, and once more the two sit down to share a cup of tea together the way they used to do. Her mother seems beautifully real; not a spooky ghost at all, but her own loving self. Her father is delighted, and now that he’s not obsessed with getting the machine to work, he becomes present in Emmaline’s life again.
Emmaline shares the news of the ghost machine with her two loyal best friends, twins Oliver and Gully. They test it themselves, calling up the ghosts of dead pet fish, who swim eerily around the basement. Oliver goes further, and is delighted when he gets to see his dog again (though Gully, more cautious and careful, is against the idea). Gully is right to be worried, because there is a painful cost to the ghostly visits. Each summoning of a ghost consumes a memory that is gone forever. There is larger issue the kids must ponder too—if word gets out about the ghost machine, other people will want to use it, for good or ill. And indeed, the three elderly sisters next door are soon begging to talk to their dead brother one last time…Then another tragedy strikes, and Emmaline is faced again with the dilemma of the machine’s insidious promise.

Though the plot of the ghost machine is tremendously intriguing (will it work? how many people will find about it? will it go horribly wrong?), it is the poignant and compassionate portrayal of loss, and the powerful relationships between the characters as they deal with weighty issues, that give the book its satisfying depth. Kids who like thoughtful stories with lots of emotional resonance will love it, as will ghost story fans who are looking for something more than a quick scare! Fans of DeStefano’s other kids’ books (A Curious Tale of the In-Between, and The Peculiar Night of the Blue Heart) will not be disappointed.
Note to adults—this is actually not a depressing book, mainly because Emmaline is a pragmatic sort of person, but it is sad. On top of the sadness of Emmaline’s mother’s death, another dear character dies toward the end of the book. This ratchets up the tension of the plot, making the book as a whole stronger, but it is tragic. Though the ending resolves the story on an upbeat note, be warned that there might be tears.
The Girl with the Ghost Machine is on B&N bookshelves now.