Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison is a book that I wanted to like, but didn't really care for in the end.
It's
the end of her eight-grade year, and Gilda Joyce is dreaming of
adventure. Her best friend will be away at camp for the summer, and
other classmates are looking forward to vacations and fun. When her
teacher asks Gilda what she will be doing over the summer, Gilda
impulsively announces that she will be traveling to San Francisco and
writing a novel. Of course, she had no such plans up until the words
came out of her mouth, but it does sound like an excellent idea. Gilda
contacts a distant cousin of her mother's and invites herself on a
visit, and through a series of mishaps and miscommunications, she gets a
letter back with not only an invitation, but a plane ticket that will
get her there. Once she arrives in San Francisco, she discovers that her
uncle's old house, one of San Francisco's famous "Painted Ladies," was
once the scene of a tragedy. Could the house be haunted? Gilda considers
herself a psychic investigator, and she is determined to discover any
mysteries that the house, and the people who live in it, may be hiding.
I
know Gilda is supposed to be funny and feisty, but she mostly had me
rolling my eyes. Of course, I'm not the target audience, and tweens
might find Gilda's quirky, impulsive style more appealing. The book does
occasionally touch on dark themes like mental illness and suicide, and
there are a few spooky scenes as one might expect from a book about
paranormal investigation, but all in all the tone is light and amusing. I
won't be continuing with the series, as I find the protagonist so
annoying, but if I run across tweens or young teens looking for light
paranormal fare, I'll know what to hand them.
(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)
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