Give Up the Ghost

by Megan Crewe

Book Overview

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over "breathers." Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody...and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school. But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees. As Cass becomes...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805089306
• ISBN13: 9780805089301
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 14 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 9 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Awesome book!

Oooh did I like this book! It was serious but funny and sad but exciting! It had a little bit of everything and gave me a lot to think about! Right off the bat I loved the main character, Cass, she was relatable and likable and I totally would have been friends with her (even if I am a breather!) She's the outsider that used to be an insider until her best friend turned on her out of jealously. So now she lives her life chatting with her friends that no one else can see, ghosts. I really like the first ghost we meet, and I'm not going to spoil who that is because I didn't know about them until I picked up the book and I was pleasantly surprised. Besides that unnamed ghost we have the two ghosts that "haunt" Cass's high school, Norris and Bitzy. They report back to Cass about the naughty going-ons of the students and staff of the high school and she basically throws it into their face that she knows what they are up to. We see a lot more of Norris than Bitzy, I'm not really sure why but I would have liked to have seen more of Bitzy, they are good friends to Cass. Another character we meet is Tim the student council vice president, and in the same group as Cass's old best friend, which makes him instantly the enemy. But when Tim needs Cass's help he doesn't take no for an answer and it opens up a whole new world for Cass. I thought that Cass and Tim played off each other beautifully and I loved watching their friendship group. Ok enough about the characters, Give Up the Ghost had a great sense of humor about it. The way Cass describes people or the comments she made, it definitely had me laughing! And while the book was really funny it was also sad (in a good way) at parts. And that balance made me love the book that much more, it covers all the bases. Numerous times I've talked about my relationship with paranormal books and how I'm still testing the waters with books that have fantastical elements in them, and this is another one that is right up my alley. My own personal type of paranormal book, I'd definitely recommend this one!

Awesome read!

Let me tell you how excited I was for this book; YA supernatural books have been intriguing me for a while now. With so many different authors and mediums out there ghosts (which you can tell by the title is what this book entails) have been shown in so many different lights. Megan Crewe instead takes ghosts somewhere else, they're not trying to scare people or anything of the like instead they essentially watch them and that's where Cassie (or Cass) comes in they tell her the dirty on people and she essentially outs them when the times comes. But giving our generation penchant for reality tv, doesn't it make sense? But she's approached by a fellow classmate for help in contacting his dead mother. But the book draws you in even though it's only around 240 pages, it's over before you really know it (and how I wished this book was longer).The characters are extremely realistic and you'll be booing for some and rooting for the others. And I really like the growth you see with Cass by the end of the book. All in all it's a very good read and I recommend it for anyone. Doesn't matter if they like Supernatural YA or realistic YA, this book will suit either one of them.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

If there's one sentence that could sum up Cass McKenna's life, it would probably be that infamous line from the movie The Sixth Sense: "I see dead people." Ever since Cass's big sister, Paige, drowned the night of her Junior Prom, Cass has had the gift - or curse - of being able to see ghosts. Or, to be technical, to see, hear, and communicate with spirits who haven't moved on to wherever spirits go after people die. The morning after her sister's death, Cass made the mistake of mentioning to her parents that Paige couldn't be dead, since she was crying upstairs in her bedroom. One therapist later, Cass has realized that telling people about her little "secret" of communicating with the dead isn't a good idea. Cass has learned to use her ghost-seeing powers to great effect. Never all that popular to begin with, she's made a lot of enemies at Frazer Collegiate by using the information that her spirit friends provide for her. Cheating on your girlfriend? Cass probably knows about it. Posting nasty things on a blog about the girl who does your homework for you? Cass probably knows about it. Passing along information to keep one of your best friends off the Athlete of the Year list? Cass knows about that, too. It's not hard to see why Norris and Bitzy, the two resident school ghosts, are Cass's only friends. But then enters Tim Reed, Student Council Vice President, who somehow manages to find out Cass's secret. Tim wants Cass's help in contacting his dead mother. Cass reluctantly agrees, planning to use Tim's popularity status to get dirt on the one person she needs to knock down the most - her ex-best friend, Danielle. It all sounds like a good plan, except that Cass doesn't know that doing so will put her in a very strange position - that of learning to care about someone else, and finding out that revenge isn't always as sweet as you think it will be. It's hard to believe that GIVE UP THE GHOST is Megan Crewe's debut novel. It's wonderfully written, has characters who are easy to relate to, and contains pitch-perfect dialogue. It deals with feelings of abandonment and loneliness, with bullying and depression, and even alcohol abuse and suicidal thoughts with true emotion and feeling. Nothing ever comes off as heavy-handed, but I appreciated the fact that Ms. Crewe showed the darker side of being a teen within the context of what could have been just a fun, frothy paranormal read. The story comes to a not quite happily-ever-after conclusion, but I could easily envision more stories featuring Cass and Tim in the future. GIVE UP THE GHOST is a winner! Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Mesmerizing!

This book was reached the expectations that I had only dreamed of. Give Up the Ghost was gripping page turner that left me salivating for more of Megan's work. Cass has a slight social problem. It might be because she can see and talk to ghosts and every time someone catches her doing it, she looks like a freak. Or it might be the fact that the ghosts like to gossip giving Cass plenty of justified ammo to take down these villains. But when Tim asks Cass if she can talk to his mother, whom happens to be dead, Cass is a bit weary because for one thing, how does he know that she can see the dead? We follow Cass as she tries to take a hold of her life before the ghosts once again and help Tim grasp the living world. I enjoyed every last detail of Cass's life. I love the ghost gossip and how every ghost is a unique individual. They all have their quirks and they all have their lovelier sides. The humor is there as well as the conflict of emotions. Cass is a dynamic character with a cage around her heart to protect her of what happened in middle but she softens up and helps Tim who cannot let go of his mother. Both characters are equally strong as is the plot. There is a sprinkling of twists within the plotline. The background information lacked in some areas however. I would have liked to read more of how Cass came to her powers, Paige's reluctance to let go, Cass's mother and father, and perhaps more of Tim's family as well. Overall: It was still a stunning debut!

Buy This Book

That Cass is grieving is more than evident, from her inwardly turned ways and her broken family- and oh yes, the regular visitation of her late sister. In fact, Cass sees a lot of dead people these days, and she takes advantage of this rare gift to collect gossip on her schoolmates. She uses the details provided by her ethereal cohorts as a sword and shield- keeping everyone at bay, and now that she has dirt on the ex-best friend who's made her miserable since junior high, she might finally have a chance for revenge. But when Tim, a popular student abandoned by his father after his mother dies, asks Cass for help, she has to decide whether to stay hidden in her own grief, or to finally let a painful past go. This book is deceptive- a fast read, you'll plow through it the first time in a single afternoon, engaged by the characters and the quick-moving events. But you'll want to come back again and again to enjoy the details- the finely turned out phrases and the delicate metaphors at play. Crewe has crafted a debut novel that's both a pleasure to read and to savor.