Portable Ghosts

by Margaret Mahy

Ditta is a smart, sassy 12-year-old who wants to be a detective - and when she encounters a ghostly boy reading in a mysterious corner of her school library she has her first mystery to solve. But when her best friend Max tells her the bedroom floor in his brand new house is haunted too, the mysteries start coming thick and fast and before she knows it she has a whole handful to solve. With her nerdy, computer geek sister Mirabel, the three friends find that ghosts are much more adaptable than they ever thought possible and Ditta finds not one but two ways of making them portable. the relationship that develops between the children and the garrulous old man who sits in the park every day with his laptop is delightful and adds a thoughtful dimension to the story, which teachers will be able to use creatively to explore a number of interesting social issues.