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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Out of Body Friendship , July 12, 2005
3 and ½ stars. Louise Arnold's Golden and Grey finds its way to being a rollicking read after an leisurely stroll through exposition. Tom Golden is a boy being relentlessly bullied at his new school. His despair is so great that he comes to the attention of an innocuous young ghost named Grey Arthur, who is searching for his ghostly role in life. Grey Arthur becomes Golden's Invisible Friend and guardian, and eventually introduces Tom to the rest of the ghostly universe. When Tom's ability to see ghosts is taken advantage of, it is up to Arthur and his ghosts to save the day.
Avoiding Potter syndrome when you write a book dealing with ghosts is practically impossible. Arnold has stamped her impression on the nature of ghosts (they don't say "ooooo", they're not dead people, etc.), but she does include a ghostly newspaper (the Daily Tell-Tale), phantoms that suck in light, and a boy who is able to see spirits. Though perhaps unconsciously derivative, the force of Arnold's imagination is able to suppress most parallels in readers' minds.
The warmth of the story comes in the relationship between the two boys, and Arnold's descriptions of bullying and isolation. Tom seems destined to make a fool of himself, which Arnold knows means social death in schoolroom politics. She is also particularly astute on certain small details, like Tom's mother's disgusting leftovers, his father's experimental socks, and the repetitive routine of mornings before school. A stray cliché now and again ("cold fear" and things reaching out like "greedy hands") could have been edited out.
Golden and Grey's pace picks up measurably as the ghosts band together to use their talents against Tom's enemy. The "bad guy" is frighteningly real in a modern context, as is the reaction of Tom's parents to his situation. Descriptions of Tom's plight will have both generations of readers feeling taut inside. This kind of dramatic pull is hard to create, and Arnold deserves credit for achieving it. I look forward to reading her next book, which can hopefully avoid the problems of comparisons with Potter.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Utterly charming!, July 6, 2005
Louise Arnold's first book is a delightful, charming story. Her main characters are adorable, without ever resorting to cutesy-ness. Comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable, given that Ms. Arnold previewed this story in an "Are You The Next J.K Rowling?" contest, but this story is completely original and stands firmly on its own two feet.
And now I finally know where all those lost socks went!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fantasy for the Ages, August 4, 2005
Eleven-year-old Tom Golden couldn't be more dissatisfied with his new surroundings. He doesn't fit in with his new classmates, and, due to this difference, he is beaten up almost everyday by various class bullies, both physically and mentally, leaving him drained and friendless by the time that he arrives home from school everyday. Grey Arthur, a ghost, is looking for a ghostly position that will suit his needs, but can't seem to succeed in anything he does, simply because he is too kind. That is, until Tom comes along. Tom gives Grey the idea he needs for the perfect job. Grey decides to be an Invisible Friend. He immediately takes the position at Tom's side, keeping bullies from attacking him, or leaving vicious notes on his back or backpack, but the work leaves Grey hopeless, for Tom can't see him. That is, until a freak accident renders Tom the only human in all the world to be able to see ghosts as real people, and all that changes.
I must admit that usually, after I read one of J.K. Rowling's novels - which I just did, HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, to be exact - that I have a hard time getting deeply involved with any future novels for a good month. However, when I picked up Louise Arnold's GOLDEN & GREY, the notion was quickly swept from my mind. GOLDEN & GREY is a remarkable first novel by a wonderful new writer. Arnold's quick, lyrical writing, bring the story and its characters to life, and truly make the reader feel as if he/she were right there alongside Tom and Grey as they meet up with various ghostly species, and get into all sorts of trouble and mischief. A marvelous book that will bring a smile to the faces of the HARRY POTTER crowd.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
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