Source: http://beverlystowemcclure.blogspot.com/
Date: May 26, 2009

Ghost stories are some of my favorite books, and this one kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next.

Eleven-year-old Wendy Wiles's life is falling apart. Her parents are talking divorce. Her dad leaves home. Wendy, her mom, and her older brother, Mike, move to an old house in the country. Wendy is one unhappy girl. An aspiring poet, she writes a poem about the unfairness of life. After all, poets are supposed to suffer, aren't they?

As if she doesn't have enough to deal with, Jennifer, a girl she meets who lives on the other side of the woods, tells Wendy the house they're living in is haunted. Mike, as brothers delight in doing, teases Wendy, because he, of course, doesn't believe in ghosts. Wendy's mother also agrees that there's no such thing as ghosts. But they don't know the weird stuff that happens in Wendy's bedroom.

Ghostly sightings and unsolved mysteries finally make even skeptical Mike a believer, and the children decide to discover the truth about a long ago tragedy. And what about Mom and Dad? How does their story end? I'm not telling.

Ms. Lockwood has written a chilling tale that once you start reading it, you'll turn on all the lights and check your doors to be sure they're locked, unless you'd like a visit from a ghost. This is a great story for middle-grade readers who love a good mystery and the paranormal. The brother and sister relationship is true-to-life, and you root for the children to succeed in their quest. I think even older folks will enjoy the book. I know I did.

Source: http://joyce-anthony.blogspot.com/
Date: May 18, 2009

Eleven-year-old Wendy feels like her world is falling apart when her parents discuss getting a divorce. She and her twelve-year-old brother pack up and move into a house that is reported to be haunted. Wendy's mother doesn't believe in such things, but Wendy knows she has seen the ghost of a young girl who used to live here. Her brother teases her until he sees the ghost of a piano-playing boy. The two set out, with the help of a young neighbor girl, to solve the mystery of why these two ghosts are haunting the house. What they find is more than any of the three could have imagined.

Told with a quick-paced style, Penny Lockwood brings to life a cast of characters that will keep readers in the 9-12 year-old age group interested and wondering what happens next. Leaving many of the details to the reader's imagination, Ghost for Rent is plot-driven. This allows more opportunity for young readers to identify with the characters.

I can see a future for Penny Lockwood in this genre. Here easy, flowing language and fast-paced plot will help draw young readers in and have them enjoying the read so much they want more. I give Ghost For Rent five colors on the Rainbow Scale of Reading Excellence.

Source: http://chrischatreviews.blogspot.com/
Date: May 19 - 21, 2009

First it's separating parents, then moving (out of the city, no less) and now her new home is haunted??? What is eleven year-old Wendy to do? Solve the mystery of the haunting ghosts, of course.

This is the simple basis for "Ghost for Rent." However, there is more here than first meets the eye. Ms. Lockwood explores the emotions of one child; as Wendy deals with annoyance, hurt, anger, fear, not being believed, to finally being accepted. Emotions we adults tend to forget are very strong in our young. Emotions I can remember running through on a weekly basis with my childhood friends. However, I never lived in a haunted farmhouse. Wish I had.

It is the ghost story that brings Wendy and her teasing brother together. Even when their mother refuses to acknowledge what her own eyes are showing her, Wendy and her brother become more determined to uncover why these spirits are still here.

Why do ghosts haunt? What chains them to their old homes? Sorry, I'm not about to tell you, but the ghosts in "Ghost for Rent" will haunt you in more ways than one.

"Ghost for Rent" entertains on different levels. It is a read that brought me back to my own childhood and what I loved to read at Wendy's age, a spooky tale with just enough scare without the horror. As an adult it's a refreshing fright from the more sensual scares that seem to be the norm, today. More importantly, as a mother I can't wait to share "Ghost for Rent" with my daughter and introduce her to the fun of being scared.