Customer Reviews

Dial a Ghost

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am always looking for books for my nephews to read, and this one is one of the best I've found. It will appeal to all of the kids going through Harry Potter withdrawal. Oliver Smith is an orphan living happily in a Home. He suddenly finds out that he has inherited a great estate. Unfortunately, he has two evil cousins who also want the estate. They hire two vile ghosts who like to kill children to haunt the house. Unfortunately, there is a mixup at the agency, and the ghostly Wilkinson family take their place, for the time being anyway.

This is a really fun read. There are some illustrations, but the author's descriptions are so vivid they are practically unecessary. My nephew loved this book.

Helton Hall is the haunting, grandiose mansion that has been in the Snodde Brittle family for generations. Now, hoewever, a little boy with the last name Smith is the rightful owner -- not Fulton Snodde Brittle, who is enraged at this. Oliver Smith is an orphan, and has roots to the Snodde Brittles. Fulton and his wife, Frieda, will do anything to keep Oliver from owning it -- they plan on using the Shriekers, horrifying ghosts who wear meat for jewelry and love strangling children in their sleep, to scare away Oliver for good. But one family of ghosts who are nice won't let that happen. They're determined to protect Helton Hall's rightful owner -- no matter what horrors lurk inside the mansion. Dial-A-Ghost is the fourth hilarious and witty novel by Eva Ibbotson. I enjoyed it even more than Which Witch?, an award-winning and charming fantasy novel Harry Potter fans will enjoy. Readers are going to adore this exciting new ghost story.

I'm just finishing reading this to my six-year-old (the nine yearold is listening, despite having read it twice already)and we all love it so much that they can even been torn away from The Simpsons! If you haven't dsicovered Ibbotson yet, start with this one, or The Secret of Platform 13 (which is astoundingly like Harry Potter, but long before Harry Potter was written).

Oliver, an orphan, unwillingly inherits Helton Hall from his dreary relations, never guessing that the evil Fulton and Freida Snodde Brittle (family motto: I set my foot upon my enemies)want it so badly they pay an agency to send them the most horrible ghosts on their books. Luckily, the Shriekers (not only violent, but snobs) get sent to some kind nuns by mistake, and Oliver is sent the lovely, gentle Wilkinson family. The Wilkinsons, who have been camping in a London knicker shop ever since a bomb fell on their own home, have adopted a little girl ghost called Adopta, and she becomes Oliver's special friend. But the evil Snodde-Brittles are furious when, instead of dying of asthma and terror, Oliver loves his new guests...and The Shriekers, equally furious, are coming to Helton too.

Funny, thrilling and moving. We all adored it.

Dial-a-Ghost was a great book. I was expecting a book exactly like it because Eva Ibbotson always writes fantastic books. It started out with a family living in their house during the war. A bomb hit their house and they became ghosts. They went to a ghost house where normal people could rent ghosts for their house, to scare or to just live there. The nice ghosts got mixed up with the awful ghosts and disaster began. The awful ghosts went to a nuns church adn the nice ones went to a nasty old mans house who just wanted the ghosts to kill people. I all turned out OK in the end, but you will have to see what happens for yourself.
Dial-a-Ghost was just everything I thought it would be. Fun, funny, entertaining, and exciting. This book had me reading in the car for hours in a row until I finished it. I just could not put it down. If you have read the Secret of PLatform 13 then I just know you will love this book. Both of the books are similar in the way that they have fun and crazy characters adn are just fun reads. Eva Ibbotson always succeedsin writing the books that really capture my attention and I hope that you will feel the same way after reading just a couple of her books.

Written By: C.C.

I adore this as well as the much as I do the other Ibbotson's. The story of a family of ghosts who help a little boy defeat his evil cousins who would have him dead so that they might own a giant estate that he inherited. A great book with a wonderful story and sweetness all its own.

I highly recommend this book, not only for children. The plot was interesting and the characters heart-warming. Lots of suspense--and tears and laughter. This middle-aged stockbroker found it great escape reading. I'm so glad I found this author.

Eva Ibbotson is just pure magical. Dial-A-Ghost not only makes you laugh and slap your knee, but it also teaches valuable life lessons. Read it. That's all I can say.

When I first got this book I underestemated it because the begining was, let's say, un interesting. It was only when EVA IBBOTSON HERSELF suggested it to me when I wrote to her. Do not make the mistake of underestemating this book like I did. I liked it so much I'm reading it again to my mom! Who are Adopta's real parents. This book is written so well that all the fantasty spooks come to life! What happens to Frieda and Fulton Snodbrittle. You never know what's going to happen next!
Warning!!! You'll get hooked on this book so read it when you have plenty of time or else you won't find a place you want to stop because you just can't! It's so good!

This is a GREAT book. I recommend it for any readers from nine up! It's exciting and funny. I couldn't put it down! If you liked Harry Potter, you'll LOVE this! An interesting, funny and ironic twist at the end! It makes you wonder weither there IS life after death. A must-read!

Eva Ibbotson is one of my favorite authors, and out of all of them this is one of my favorites. I had laughs, gasps, and wide eyes of surprise on my face while I was reading it.

I thought the concepts were neet. The family is bombed and they all die, but one of them doesn't become a ghost. Some people can see ghosts and some can't. The personality of the person continues in the ghost. All of these and more are in the book.

Out of all of it, the ending was the best part. Like in most of Ibbotson's books, she wraps the story up and ends all the questions and cliff hangers.

It was written in a very true reolistic way, even though some things aren't proven to be true. That's another thing I liked about it.

The reason I give it four stars, not five, is because the twists are very good at the end, but in a few places the story gets a little boring in the middle of a chapter. Even so, this is one of her best books.

I would reccomend all of her books to you if you liked this one, especially 'Which Which' and 'The Great Ghost Rescue.'