Dad, In Spirit [Library Binding]

Alexandria Lafaye (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

"Sure, he was distracted a lot, but my dad was still a cool guy. I would've thought so even if he weren't my dad, and I wanted him back."

Ebon will never memorize the phone book like his brother, Sam; he can't sew Halloween costumes like his sister, Joliet; and he'll certainly never build a backyard castle like his dad. So Ebon grudgingly accepts his place as the normal kid in a weird family -- that is, until the day Dad falls asleep.

Working on the local haunted house, Dad hits his head and slips into a coma. Ebon's goal is to get Dad to wake up. It might be more than Ebon can handle, though, especially when Dad starts wandering around the house like a ghost. After all, how can Dad be a ghost if he's alive lying in a hospital bed? Ebon must find a way to unite Dad's spirit with his body -- before Dad sleeps forever.

In her first contemporary novel A. LaFaye turns a potentially tragic circumstance into a magical story of the power of one family's love. Distinguished by LaFaye's trademark storytelling, Dad, in Spirit will tickle your funny bone as it touches your heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this far-fetched yet engaging novel by LaFaye (Strawberry Hill; The Year of the Sawdust Man), her customary lyrical language takes a backseat to original plot twists. Ebon Jones feels like a boring misfit in his idiosyncratic and creative family of storytellers, sculptors, set designers and costumers. The boy usually acts as audience and gopher for his beloved and playful dad, but when his father has an accident while constructing the local Halloween haunted house, Ebon takes on a different role. While everyone else tries to cope with the tragedy in his or her own way, only Ebon can make contact with his dad's "spirit" and solve the puzzle to bring him back from a coma. Ebon, who is not yet a teenager, musters the courage to temporarily leave his own body behind to save his father's, in what his father later calls a "reverse seance." All the characters are quirky yet warmly believable, including Ebon's mom, who is simultaneously the pillar of the family and the sculptor of "fire-spitting" gargoyles. LaFaye creates enough curiosity about Ebon, his family and their predicament in the first couple of chapters to hook young readers into a story that is at once realistic and fanciful. Ages 8-12.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Ebon Jones, the nine-year-old narrator, has always felt like the least exceptional member of his unusual family. His father, in particular, is an odd duck who keeps erratic hours, delights in esoteric minutiae, and involves the family in elaborate games. When Dad lapses into a coma after suffering a fall, however, it's ordinary Ebon who begins to hear him speaking, who begins to see him materializing around their house, and, strangest of all, who enables his mother and siblings to experience Dad, too. Counter to all scientific and medical expectations, perhaps thanks only to Ebon's steadfast love and overwhelming need to have his father back, the man recovers completely from his concussion. Best of all, having rejoined the family, he seems resolved to maintain closer relationships with them. LaFaye has written before about children with nonconformist parents, but this is her first attempt to do so in a contemporary setting-modern Minneapolis. Somehow, the suspension of disbelief necessary for enjoying this novel is a little more difficult than for her books set in the South some 50 years ago. Nonetheless, Dad, in Spirit is original, provocative, and ultimately joyous.

Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 176 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068981514X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689815140
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,282,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

when I started elementary in a small town in central Wisconsin, I discovered that I had a serious problem--I was a complete and total geek! I showed up at school with my clothes on backwards (not to start a new fashion trend, I just pay a lot of attention when I was getting dressed); I talked to myself (why not, no one else would); and I was constantly making up stories.

By the time I was 8, most of the kids in school hated me. They called me names, threw things at me, and generally made my life miserable. I want to do something to make them want to get to know the real me, becuase I felt sure that they'd like me if they really got to know me.

My big plan back then was to break a World Record in the Guiness Book of World Records, then I'd become famous and everyone would want to get to know me. Unfortunately, I could find a record I could break. Then I found Dorothy Straight who published a novel when she was six. I thought, "If a six year old can do, then so can I." That's what started me on the road to becoming an author.

Since then, I've become an author and a writing teacher. I've published nearly a dozen books including WORTH which one the 2005 Scott O'Dell Award and my most recent title THE KEENING which tells the story of a grieving girl who discovers she has a hidden family talent-- she can see the dead.

More importantly, I've realized that it's wonderful to embrace your inner geek, believe in the person God made you to be, and use the gifts God make you to try and make the world a better place. I hope my books do that.

Happy Reading!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neither one nor the other, but succeeds at both, August 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dad, In Spirit (Library Binding)

The precise genre of LaFaye's latest work is elusive, but is all the more compelling. Ebon's gift of recognizing his dad (when his dad has never been able to figuratively recognize Ebon) is both touching and humorous. This story is neither pure ghost story or fantasy, nor is a family drama, but instead of suffering from being too many things at once, it takes the best from all genres and blends them beautifully. The family is very realistic and talented (even Ebon, who claims to have no talent, seems to have a gift of expression as well has seeing his father's spirit). A fun yet provocative read.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too self-conscious., May 23, 2002

By 

beckyjean "beckyjean" (East Granby, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dad, In Spirit (Library Binding)

When I first began reading this book, I thought it was going to be yet another book about how the 'boring' kid in a 'stellar' family finds out what makes him special.

This book is indeed that sort of book, but it throws the reader a few curves, the first one being that of Ebon's apparent "gift," and another one being the fact that the rest of his family seems to have it too. Uh-oh -- suddenly the "special" kid is right back where he was: ordinary.

The stilted dialogue and "kid-like" diction don't help matters -- kids just don't talk the way the kids talk in this book. People don't talk the way people talk in this book. The family in the book uses their own slang terms and nicknames for parts of the house, family members, etc -- fine, many families too -- but none of it feels natural.

It has been said that a bad writer is conscious where she should be unconscious, and unconscious where she should be conscious. The writing in this book shows evidence of exactly these problems.

The story itself is quirky and fanciful. It tries hard to offer fun and entertainment, and, if you can get past the imprecise, overdone writing, it succeeds.