Shortly after their mother remarries, Molly and Michael are informed that the family is moving out to the country. Which would be bad enough, for sure, but add their horrible psycho hosebeast of a new stepsister to the situation AND the fact that their stepfather always takes her (lying) word over theirs, and they're in for a rough summer. And that's BEFORE they find the haunted graveyard behind their new house.
This one was big fun for a multitude of reasons. There's the unintentionally hilarious dialogue (this passage also has some excellently gratuitous and awkward info-dumping -- it made for super dramatic readings at the circ desk):
Glancing up the stairs to make sure Heather hadn't sneaked down to spy on us, I said, "If only Heather was a normal kid. She acts more like a two-year-old than a seven-year old. And she's mean; she tattles and lies and does everything she can do to get us in trouble with Dave. Why do they always take her side--even Mom?"
Michael made a face. "You know what Dave says." Making his voice deep and serious, he said, "Heather is an unusually imaginative and sensitive child. And she has suffered a great loss. You and Molly must be patient with her."
I groaned. "How long can we feel sorry for her and be nice to her? I know it must have been horrible to see her mother die in a fire and be too little to help, but she was only three years old. She should've gotten over it by now, Michael." (page 6)
Despite the unrealistic dialogue and the infodumping and the waaaaaaay over-the-top (but, happily, waaaaaay funny) drama...
I stared at it sadly, no longer in the mood to continue writing about unicorns, rainbows, and castles in the clouds. ... Then I began writing a poem about real life. Something depressing dealing with loneliness and unhappiness and the misery of being misunderstood and unloved. (page 9)
...I read the book in one sitting and had no desire whatsoever to set it aside for something better. I'm not sure why -- it wasn't just the prose style that I couldn't take seriously, it was also the storyline. BEGIN SPOILER A few pages before the end, Heather the Monster does a complete 180° due to the showdown with the ghost and becomes the darlingest, nicest little sister anyone could ever wish for. There are a few reasons given for her previous bitchitude. One is that she was possessed, which would make the most amount of sense given the flip-a-switch nature of her personality, but I didn't buy it, because there was nothing in the text that even REMOTELY suggested that. The other reason given is that she was so traumatized by holding on to her Big Obvious Secret about how the fire started that it made her act all horrible. I found that one more believable, since I'd imagine that finally letting go of a Big Obvious Secret like that would be pretty cathartic. END SPOILER
It may be possible that I'm putting a bit too much thought into this.
OH WAIT, MORE SPOILERS The other thing that made no sense to me was that the ghost was CLEARLY evil, with scary black pits where her eyes should be and she kept drowning kids and stuff but then suddenly at the end, she was all "Oh, yay, you found the missing bodies of my parents (which were just in the rubble of the house, and so we'll just not mention how weird it is that no one had bothered to dig them out before) and now I'm happy and can be at peace and I don't want to drown people anymore", which, just, no. Salt and burn, dude. Salt and burn. END SPOILERS THIS TIME FOR REALS I SWEAR
So, yeah. Despite the drama and the storyline and the unbelievable emotional shifts and all that jazz, I was hooked. I wanted to punch the stepfather in the face for refusing to see what a lunatic his daughter was. And I felt rather violent towards Molly and Michael's mother as well, for acting like Molly's sole purpose on this Earth was to babysit her stepsister. BUT. I felt like Molly's feelings about -- while, yes, amazingly ridiculously dramatic when put into words -- and difficulty with the changes her family was going through really rang true. So maybe that was why, ultimately, I felt like Wait Till Helen Comes had something.
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Previously:
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Book source: Personal copy bought with my own money.
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My review of this posts next week. Awesome book. And I hated the parents so, so, so much. I felt it should be called "Wait Till Dave Comes."
In the audio? Molly is the biggest tween drama queen EVER. I'm not sure how it comes across in the book but she is constantly in high drama/crying mode. My friend has a daughter this age and says "She's PMS'ing 24/7. I just wish she would enter puberty and get it over with."
Posted by: Liz B | 25 March 2010 at 01:28 PM
I'm so glad I'm not alone in hating them -- what was the line? Something about "the only reason we moved to the country was so that we could Work On Our Art and not bother with you pesky kids"? Horrible, loathsome people.
I TOTALLY believe that Molly comes off as a huge drama queen in the audio, because that's exactly how she came off in the book -- she talks about how immature Heather is, but HOLY COW, she should look in a mirror. At one point she was afraid of COWS. COWS. In that instance, I couldn't fault Heather for her disdainful look.
Posted by: Leila | 25 March 2010 at 01:35 PM
Oh my lord, I loved this book so much when I was nine or ten. I need to find my copy, because obviously I didn't get the unintentionally hilarious dialogue. But I definitely hated the parents, too.
Posted by: annie | 25 March 2010 at 06:14 PM
AHAHAHA!!! This was one of my favorite books way back when. I got it out of the Scholastic Book Club order form....ah, memories!
Posted by: beth | 25 March 2010 at 06:58 PM
What was also awesome was how the family backstory made no sense. Molly & Michael's father? Left, disappaeared, no one wondered at the trauma of that. Heather living with her grandmother -- who is never mentioned again, or visited, now that she lives with Dave & new wife. They move from the bad city house with no room to paint -- to a house with room to paint but now Heather & Molly share a room. Whahuh? Just how big was that Baltimore row house and why wasn't the extra room the studio?
Also? the obsession with combing hair. Molly's idea that sisters combed each others hair and Heather's mad tangle of curls mentioned over and over.
Also? What did the artsy fartsy folk do before the big "now we are arteests" move? So, so weird.
Posted by: Liz B | 25 March 2010 at 08:39 PM
Yeah, when I was writing my (extremely long) synopsis, I sat here for, like, five minutes trying to remember what the deal was with their father. Glad to know that my memory isn't going along with my hearing and my phone skills!
And they moved into a church! I refuse to believe that there wasn't enough room there to cram Heather into her own space. Heck, Molly probably even would've preferred sleeping in the broom closet to rooming with her. But that wouldn't have allowed for some important plot points, so there you go.
Such a strange read. It made zero sense, yet I enjoyed it so, so much.
Posted by: Leila | 26 March 2010 at 06:27 AM
This is one of my favorite YA novels ever! I still remember how scared I was while reading it on the school bus in 4th grade. I too got it from a Scholastic Book Order and I still own it to this day -- complete with my really horrible elementary school era cursive signed name.
Posted by: Erin | 26 March 2010 at 12:49 PM
I think this book won the Rebecca Caudill award when I was in fourth grade - I preferred A Murder for Her Majesty and I remember being very upset when my class chose this book for our teacher to read aloud to us instead!
Posted by: Anne | 26 March 2010 at 06:21 PM
Wow, now this book brings back serious memories. You know the thing I never got? Why are so many angry ghosts named Heather? Happened in here, and again in Meg Cabot's Mediator series. It makes me think my name is a bit jinxed (we won't even get into the "Heathers" movie). Maybe I should write a short story with a happy ghost named Heather, combat the negative stigma. Heather, the friendly ghost. Wait... :)
Posted by: Heather Z. | 30 March 2010 at 12:18 PM
Well yall are used to the old copy but it came out with a new revised one that is wayy better. :)
Posted by: Katherine | 06 May 2010 at 07:35 PM
what are some twist or ironys in the story?
Posted by: maria | 19 October 2010 at 10:35 PM
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!I have lagitly read this book 3 times! ITs purty amazing!
Posted by: SARAH | 11 February 2012 at 06:20 PM