Ghostly Romance

I don't know why I enjoy supernatural relationship stories so much. Maybe it's the forbidden love aspect--maybe it's the supernatural aspect, I don't know. All I know is that every time I read one, I thoroughly enjoy it! This one that I just finished, is one that Karen has always recommended, but I had never gotten around to reading. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb is about Helen--a ghost who haunts hosts--people--for their lifetime. Her hosts of choice are literature fans. Her current host is Mr. Brown, a high school English teacher. No one has ever been able to see her until one day when a teen boy stares at her in his class. The boy, Billy, terrifies her and entices her to discover how he can see her when no one has ever seen her in the 130+ years she had been a ghost. Billy is actually James, a ghost of 85 years who has taken over Billy's body when he overdoses on drugs. James and Helen learn about possession and love in this lovely written tale of ghost romance.

There are wonderful bits about literature and the ackward attempt at living a teenage life in current times while having the mentality of a 20-something from the 1800s. There's a hilarious scene when James tries to convince Helen to drive so she can get her license. He tells her that it hasn't changed since they had been alive and she has to inform him that she wasn't alive when the automobile had been invented. This for some reason, cracks James (and myself) up, causing Helen to ask primly "Are you making fun of my age?" So there's romance, relationships, trying to adjust to a new life with no memories of that body's life, and most importantly their past life and what happened to them to cause them to die.

Older teens who like Twilight by Stephenie Meyer as well as the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, which I also adored, will enjoy this ghost story!