To Catch a Ghost

About the Book

A weekend retreat on an isolated island, a strange old man, Wilson, who lives there, a haunted lighthouse and an accident that happened sixty years before blend together in “To Catch A Ghost”.

This is a story of possession, not evil but good, and the eleven-year-old girl who solves the mystery with the help of her seven-year-old twin brothers and her self-absorbed older sister.

Lucy, the protagonist, is obsessed with writing, and she enters colorful remarks and nagging questions into her ever-present pocket notebook. She also volunteers to take care of her lively brothers for the weekend so her mother and father can have a vacation. George is obsessed with ghosts and vampires, and Adam becomes possessed by an island ghost who is held hostage in the lighthouse. Both Lucy’s family and Wilson’s past family become entwined as a result of that long ago accident.

The setting is vivid and eerie, and the characters are real and amusing. The story is upbeat as the mystery unravels in a logical and positive way. There is a hint of young romance along with compassion and a developed respect for old age.

All in all, this book is a good read for the middle-graders, both boys and girls, with a strong, chilling and satisfying climax.

About the Author

Ann Brophy was born and grew up in Indiana. She graduated from college in Ohio with a BA degree in Creative Writing and English Literature. She then moved to New York City where she fulfilled her high school dream of working with Broadway playwrights. For the next 10 years she was affiliated with Samson Raphaelson, Robert Sherwood, Sidney Kingsley, George Kaufman and the syndicated cartoonist, Walt Kelly.

After marriage and three children, Ann began writing seriously when she took a writing course at Fairfield University in Connecticut and had a narrative poem published in Humpty Dumpty magazine. Other poetry and short stories followed in children’s magazines. Her first book, a Young Adult novel, “Flash And The Swan”, was published by Frederick Warne. After that, a non-fiction book, “John Ericsson And The Inventions Of War”, with an introduction by Henry Steele Commager was published as part of a Civil War series from Silver Burdett Press. She also wrote “The Story Of Jennie Wade”, a true account, for the Jennie Wade museum in Gettysburg, followed by an historical novel, “Summer Storm In Gettysburg”, based on Jennie Wade, her family and friends. She has written several picture books (two in rhyme), a collection of short stories for children and most recently has published a memoir about her most unusual grandmother titled, “Best Friends Are Better Than Diamonds, A Story of Diamond Heels and Stepped-on Toes”. Her mystery novel “To Catch A Ghost” is scheduled for publication later this summer.

Ann taught Writing for Children at Fairfield University for 10 years and conducted writing workshops in Southport. She also has done editing for publishers and for private students.