Nothing but Ghosts

Starred review from July 13, 2009
Coping with loss and uncovering secrets are staples of YA fiction, but Kephart (House of Dance
) skillfully uses nuanced characters and resonant imagery to make the familiar feel new and magical. Sixteen-year-old Katie D'Amore and her father live in an old “heirloom” house, one that's far too large following the recent death of Katie's mother. Her father restores paintings—bringing torn, stained and begrimed canvases back to life—and Katie has taken a summer job as a gardener for the town recluse, Miss Martine, which offers another kind of resurrection. But neither can leave grief behind. Orders to excavate an unlikely spot for a new gazebo lead Katie to investigate the mystery behind Miss Martine's sudden withdrawal from the world. Her search parallels her father's current restoration project, which also gives tantalizing glimpses into an old tragedy and the still-open wounds it left behind. Kephart's evocative writing and gentle resolution offer healing and hope as her characters come to terms with their losses. As Katie says, “Things disappear and vanish... and after that all you can do is keep the idea of them bright inside yourself.” Ages 12–up.

July 1, 2009
Gr 8 Up-When her mother dies of cancer, 16-year-old Katie finds it painful to continue the patterns of her old life, so she makes the unexpected choice of taking a summer job in the gardens of the nearby estate belonging to reclusive Miss Martine. There she works under the caretaker with the other part-timers and stumbles upon a two-pronged mystery: Why are they digging so deeply near the river, and how does that relate to whatever sent the debutante Miss Martine out of society more than 50 years earlier? Katies father, a brilliant art-restoration expert, contributes to the search for answers as he cleans an elaborate painting that he believes Miss Martines father, a millionaire industrialist, created near the time of her seclusion. Research into some donated boxes of local lore at the library and assistance from the librarian and an intriguing boy who also works at the estate aid in her investigation. Meanwhile, Katie grieves: memories of a family spur-of-the-moment trip to Barcelona the summer before remind her of how her mother made an event out of everything and made her feel loved. Somehow its easier for the teen to deal with Miss Martines ghosts than with the aching absence of her mother. Nice writing and characterization cant quite compensate for a lack of suspense, a romance that never really gets off the ground, and a story that doesnt draw one in."Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2009
Grades 8-11 Grief and all its anguish is at the heart of this story. Reeling from her mothers death, Katie, 16, takes a summer job on a nearby wealthy estate as part of a work crew constructing a gazebo. As she bonds with her fellow teen worker, Danny, she stumbles across secrets about the beautiful, rich recluse who lives in the big house. Why has wacky Miss Martine not been seen for over 50 years? Is the hole that theyre digging really for the gazebo? With the help of the glamorous town librarian (yes, glamorous), Katie and Danny research local lore in newspaper files and microfilm. The connections between solving the mystery and Katies bereavement struggle are sometimes overstated. Her first-person present-tense narrative is clear and lyrical, though, especially in her portrayal of her genius dad, an artist who asks, How do you paint regret? and in her discovery that beauty and sadness can both live in one place.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)