Title: GhostGirl: Homecoming
Author: Tonya Hurley
Published: First published (UK) 2009, by Headline
Format: Hardback
Pages: 304
RRP: £9.99
rating: * * * * * / 5
I was expecting this to be as good as
GhostGirl, but in actual fact it's even better!! Charlotte Usher, our heroine, is a great main character. She used to be one of those girls you see in the school grounds by themselves, reading, but she turns into a total heroine in the Afterlife when she chokes on a gummy bear and dies (the first book). I loved Charlotte because she was strong, funny and, in some parts, twisted.
One of the few bad things I had to say about the original was that it seemed a little odd for Charlotte not to care about her parents when she died. She didn't mention them at all, not even a bit upset because she couldn't see them again, which made her seem a tad insensitive. Tonya Hurley explains the reason for that in
Homecoming when we find out Charlotte's parents died when she was small, so she's been an orphan all her life. It was a bit like that really sad X-Factor moment when the audience find out the entrant's brother died from cancer 6 weeks after his wedding (the second 2009 episode). Was I the only person to cry so much at that? I'm glad Tonya Hurley addressed the whole Charlotte being an orphan subject, but it would have been better to find out in the first book, and the ending probably would have been more dramatic too. It's a typical
GhostGirl ending - everything's fixed, although there's a sad part :(
It's been aaaages since I read the first book, but I still - mostly - understood
Homecoming, although a few times I was like 'huh?'. I really don't recommend reading this as a standalone, because more than a few events are connected to the first book, and it took me ages to remember what happened.
Tonya Hurley did a great job. It's the same idea as
GhostGirl, but it's funnier and is much deeper, even showing the human side of a certain Queen of Mean. The author juggles both humourous and melancholy moments with ease, which makes this book a perfect teen read for any girl.
