The Ghost Behind The Wall [Hardcover]

MELVIN BURGESS (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 23, 2000

The ghost was rushing forwards towards David. As he came he grew bigger and bigger until he was like a lorry charging through the pipes. David screamed and the ghostly boy opened his mouth and screamed back. But his scream wasn't the scream of a child - it was the scream of an old man.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-David, 12, lives with his distant father in London. One afternoon, he realizes that he can climb into the building's ventilation system and spy on other tenants. At first, he pretends to be a ghost, but his game takes a more serious turn after he begins to "haunt" Mr. Alveston, and discovers that a "real" ghost intends to harm the lonely widower. After the boy is caught and threatened with criminal charges, he and the old man develop a relationship, and he ultimately confronts the ghost to discover its motives. David and Mr. Alveston are fully realized characters at opposite points in their lives, but other figures, including the boy's father, remain in the background. This is a fast-paced novel with an interesting premise. Within the framework of his ghost story, Burgess successfully incorporates themes of aging, memory, and death. However, these issues are more appropriate for older readers, who may be turned off by a 12-year-old protagonist. This is a complex and involving book, but its audience is unclear.
Beth L. Meister, Yeshiva of Central Queens, Flushing, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-7. David is mischievous, alienated, small for his age, and curious. His curiosity gets the better of him one day when he decides to explore the space behind a wall ventilation grille. The path along the air duct system is scary and dark, but utterly mesmerizing. As he squeezes through, snooping into neighbors' lives, he feels powerful; he can scare a little boy watching television or cast a voyeuristic gaze into a local teacher's private life. The adventure turns to horror, however, when he discovers a ghostlike figure of a boy in the wall. It terrorizes David and leads him to menace an elderly neighbor, old Mr. Alveston, whose memory is fading. Readers may wonder if the ghost is David's alter ego, but Burgess is more clever than that. He's at his inventive best in tying the figure to Alveston's youth, and using David to bring the ghost and old man together, so Alveston can peacefully die. Before that, however, David's remorse leads to a healing, transforming relationship with the old man. An ultimately poignant adventure that will captivate British author Burgess' fans. Anne O'Malley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 148 pages
• Publisher: Andersen Press (November 23, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862644925
• ISBN-13: 978-0862644925
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,802,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Ghost Behind the Wall, February 27, 2004

By 

P. Shah (Cerritos, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ghost Behind the Wall (Hardcover)

The Ghost Behind the Wall
By: Melvin Burgess
Reviewed by: P. Shah
Period: 1

How would you react if you heard screams and whispers in the air conditioning ducts? David, a twelve year old kid that lives with his father in Mahogany Villas,(an apartment)gets the experience of his life! After school, on a tuesday, David felt like he was bored. When he looked at the ducts he felt as if a voice was calling him into the darkness. He was so curious that he pushed the grille and it opened into darkness. He climbed in with a flashlight and he spied on some people. He even snuck into his teacher's apartment and stole one of her boots. But he also had some frightening molments in the ducts. He came face to face with a ghost boy! One week later he was tempted to visit the ducts again. This time he played tricks on an elderly man named Mr. Alveston. David peed on the carpet, ate food from the refrigerator, and the ghost boy smashed all of Mr. Alveston's pictures. Near the end, everyone finds out that the ghost is really Mr. Alveston's memory of his childhood.
I liked this book because it was funny to see what David did to each of the apartment rooms he snuck in. " He jumped down from the grille and slowly took a boot from his teacher." This is funny because two days later he returns the boot but he takes the other foot. " David peed on the floor next to the toilet." This is funny because you would never expect someone to pee on the floor right next to a toilet.
I disliked this book because it wasn't as scary as i would have hoped it would have been.
My favorite part of the book is when David sneaks into his teacher's apartment and he takes a boot. And then he switched the boots! My least favorite part of this book is when David and the ghost boy trash Mr. Alveston's apartment. I hated this part because it is sad to trash an elderly person's home.

4.0 out of 5 stars aaa, September 29, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Ghost Behind the Wall (Hardcover)

I highly recommend the book, "The ghost behind the wall." It is a story about a boy who finds a secret passage that leads him from his apartment to others as well. He then starts sneaking into other peoples apartments and takes things from thier house to make them think they're going crazy. He tends to pick on and old man inparticular. But while the boy is climing out of the mans apartment he meets a ghost boy.

The boy gets so frightened, he quickly squirms out of the pipes as fast as he can and rushes home. It was a frightening experience but the boy continued to go back. After a while the ghost and the boy become friends. Before you know it they start scaring people together. If you want to find out what happens next in this thriller, I strongly advise you and your friends to read "The Ghost Behind the Wall."