Module 9 Mysteries: 43 Old Cemetery Road Dying to meet you - By Kate Klise

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Book Summary:

I. B. Grumply is looking for a place to write the newest long awaited book in his Ghost Tamer series. He wants somewhere quiet and away from children. What he ends up renting  is a haunted mansion already occupied by a young boy named Seymour. Grumply’s writers block continues to get worse as he is pestered by the ghost of Olive C. Spence. Who first tries to get rid of him, then tries to correct and assist his writing, then falls in love him, then leaves him. Grumply’s relationship with Olive is complicated to say the least. In the end they will make up when Grumply acknowledges her contributions to his writing. Together they will write a brand new best selling novel. The proceeds from the new book are enough to buy the run down mansion saving it from being it destroyed. Since Seymour's parents have abandoned him, because his belief in ghosts undermines their career, Grumply and Olive take in Seymour as their own. This book is an introduction to this series so its purpose is to introduce all the characters for later stories.

APA Citation:

Klise, K., & Klise, M. (2009). Dying to meet you. Boston, MA: Harcourt.

Impressions:

This book is written in the form of correspondence from one main character to another. This made for a quick read. The book was humorous and sweet. The play on names and intelligent humor make the reader think and expand their knowledge while also being amused. This story was not a straight up mystery, but rather and introduction to the characters.The only real mystery is whether on not Gumply and Olive will end up together. This book is meant to set up the plot for later stories in the series. As such it was a good introduction to the characters and location of the stories. Overall a good read, but not necessarily a mystery.

Professional Review: 

Plenty of fun lurks in this ghost-story comedy when a dried-up, unsociable writer, I.B. Grumply, rents an old house already occupied by Seymour Hope, an abandoned boy, and his best friend, Olive, an active and bossy lady ghost. All told through letters, newspaper articles and other documents, the story also stars M. Sarah Klise’s whimsical line drawings, which add substance to the plot. Readers learn that Mr. Grumply’s writer’s block has continued until he’s penniless; he’ll have to open up and make friends with his new roommates if he wants to produce that next bestseller. Kate Klise fleshes out the plot with back stories on the house, Seymour’s catastrophic, absent parents and Olive’s haunting of the house. Suspense intrudes when Seymour’s parents reappear and decide to demolish it. Everywhere they look, readers will find comedy, even in the headers on the letters and character names. Of course it’s all going to come out magnificently in the end, thereby setting up the next book in the planned series. A quirky, comedic romp. (Fiction. 8-14)

DYING TO MEET YOU by Kate Klise , M. Sarah Klise.(2009). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 18, 2015, from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-klise/dying-to-meet-you-2/

Library Uses: 

This book would be very useful in a program to introduce different storytelling methods. I would use this story to introduce epistolary storytelling or the telling of a story through letters.