The Ghost in the Mirror [Hardcover]

John Bellairs (Author), Brad Strickland (Author), Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 1993

It was a warm summer day in 1951 when Rose Rita Pottinger and Mrs. Zimmermann steered the car into the tunnel. When they emerged, it was snowing . . . and the year was 1828. Rose Rita Pottinger and Mrs. Zimmermann last appeared in The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring, the third book in The House With a Clock in its Walls trilogy.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

It seems only appropriate that death has not brought an end to Bellairs's career; and, happily, this posthumous collaboration has less of a thrown-together feel than his last few books. Having lost most of her magic in The Letter, The Witch and The Ring (1977), Florence Zimmerman travels back in time to recover it, taking along her friend Rose Rita Pottinger (14). Together, the two rescue a Pennsylvania Dutch family from an evil sorcerer, uncover an old chest of Revolutionary War gold, and activate a crystal ball that restores Mrs. Zimmerman's powers--not, of course, without negotiating plenty of cryptic instructions, apparitions, lurking evils, spells, and narrow escapes, plus a slavering demon or two. Though the deliciously ghastly climax suddenly comes to a halt so that the sorcerer can rehearse his motives and life story, the plot generally develops in a smooth and coherent fashion, driven along by a pair of active female characters. Still more stories are to come. (Fiction. 10-12) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dial; 1st edition (April 5, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803713703
• ISBN-13: 978-0803713703
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #545,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Ghost" a solid thriller, September 22, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ghost in the Mirror (Lewis Barnavelt) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Ghost in the Mirror" is one of several books that the late John Bellairs left unfinished at the time of his death. Those books were finished by Brad Strickland, utilizing the author's remaining outlines. It's a solid thriller with a few seams showing, but overall a good read for those not yet ready for Stephen King.

Kindly witch Mrs. Zimmermann has lost her magic, except for a sixth sense and a residual aura of unusable protective magic, and Rose Rita Pottinger has broken her ankle. Her friends Jonathan and Lewis Barnavelt have left the two behind, while on their European vacation. But suddenly Mrs. Zimmermann is called on a mission into the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, and Rose Rita comes with her. Naturally, nothing proceeds as expected. Their car is transported back in time and crashes, leaving the two staying with the kindly Weiss family.

But the mystery deepens when the reason for their time travelling is revealed -- the ghost of the witch Hilda Wetherbee tells them that she has transported them back in time to save a good wizard, Grandpa Drexel, who is fated to die on the first of April. But an evil presence disrupts the message from Granny Wetherbee, and Mrs. Zimmermann becomes stricken with partial amnesia Rose Rita becomes increasingly suspicious that a hexer -- an evil witch -- is trying to drive out the Weiss family. But how can a de-magicked witch and a bespelled modern girl hope to stop a hexer -- and a demon?

This is neither the spookiest nor the tightest of Bellairs' fantasy-horror books, and it suffers slightly from an unfortunate cliche (time travel) and a dependence on previous Bellairs books. But it's a solid time-travel/ghost-story, with some hideously chilling scenes and some interesting new characters. There's a bit of a dull section in the middle, but Strickland picks up the pace near the end with some delightfully Bellairsian scenes of horror when Rose Rita inadvertantly conjures up the demon Aziel. And for people looking for a little educational info, there's some enlightening passages about the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Rose Rita is shown without the shadow of Lewis here, and while she is not quite as interesting as the timid ex-altar boy, she's a good heroine who shows a lot of the characteristics of her best friend. Mrs. Zimmermann is given extra dimension as she tries to regain her magical powers and gets stricken with amnesia. We also get to see two dimensions of Hilda Wetherbee -- as the ghost of a crabby old witch, and as a little girl who befriends Rose Rita. Favorites Jonathan and Lewis Barnavelt even show up for a cameo appearance.

While not the most outstanding of Bellairs' books, this is a good, spooky read, especially for fans of Rose Rita and Mrs. Zimmermann. Not to be missed.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's So Good You Won't Want It To End, April 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ghost in the Mirror (Lewis Barnavelt) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really like The Ghost in the Mirror. I have read most of John Bellairs books. Every book that I have read so far has been excellet, but I have to say this is one of my favorites. It is about a girl named Rose Rita and her friend Mrs. Zimmerman. It is summer time. Mrs. zimmernman invites Rosa Rita to come with her on a trip. As the trip begins, they travel back in time. There is never a boring page in this book. That's probably why I like it so much.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Girls From New Zebedee Take A Spooky Roadtrip, December 20, 2004

By 

R. WINN "Life Is Short, but Wide!" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ghost in the Mirror (Hardcover)

This nice addition to the series gives Rose Rita and Mrs. Zimmerman a chance to hit the road, spend some time together and develop their friendship ... while fighting unearthly dangers of course!

If possible, you should read the earlier books first, but don't miss this one. The story is just fine by itself, but it will make you want to read the earlier and later books as well.

I especially liked the description of early American farm life (which was a hard life indeed!) There were also a couple of nice puzzles for Rosa Rita to solve and I challenge the reader to try to figure them out before she does!