When almost-thirteen-year-old Josephine Eloise Thomas moves from Sydney to a chateau in the southwest of France, she expects many things – adventures, inspiration for the stories she loves to write and maybe finding out more about her French mother, who tragically died when she was a toddler. What she doesn’t expect is to find a beautiful gold locket with the ghost of Louis XVII trapped inside!
After being accidentally released into the twenty-first century, the young prince proves to be annoying, strange and obviously from another time. He also believes that Josephine is not who she says she is.
Then, there’s Gabriel. The grandson of the local baker – French, beautiful, an artist and definitely not a ghost.
When Josephine and Gabriel venture to the shadowy Chateau Du Lac next door to her home, the secrets become more sinister. With Louis’s help, can Josephine and Gabriel discover what her neighbours are really up to and solve the mystery of Louis and the locket too?
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Read some great reviews from our Preview readers here:
The Girl and the Ghost by Jacqueline Harvey is the perfect book for young teens who enjoy a history mystery with a bit of romance thrown in. I really enjoyed the relatable characters and feeling like I was experiencing a little bit of France with them. The intriguing connections between the characters and the surprises in the plot made it a very interesting and suspenseful read. Joel, 14, NSW, 5 stars
Another great book by Jacqueline Harvey. As a prep – year 12 school librarian I know that kids will love this book especially kids that love learning about history. This book was easy to read and hard to put down the kids I read to just wanted me to keep going. Debbie, VIC, 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. When Josephine found the locket I thought it was cool, but when she worked out how to open it and Louis appeared I was shocked. This quickly lead to excitement though as the story continued. I envisioned Louis as having the white rolled wig hairstyle and fancy clothes like you see in paintings. So much happened in the book but I didn’t find it overwhelming, it was planned out extremely well and I kept wondering what was going to happen next. I usually have a favourite character in the books I read, but all of the characters were amazing. Each was well developed and all provided a different element to the book. The funniest part was when the suspicious white van drove right through Louis. I really didn’t want the story to end, but was so happy to learn that there will be another book in the series. I hope there are quite a few more books. And Mum in case you are reading this, the French guy wasn’t hot even if you thought he was Claire, 12, NSW, 5 stars
The girl and the ghost was a delight to read. I know it’s a kids book , but I really enjoyed it. Well written and a wonderful fanciful story. The story of a girl that finds an old locket and realises that when she opens it a ghost of a young prince appears. After the initial awkwardness and both of them working out what is actually happening, they become friends and have adventures together. I have passed it on to my 8 year old grandson and will be interested if he enjoys it as much as I did. Leonie, SA, 5 stars
This book was fun to read, the story was interesting and I liked the characters and their personalities. Ruby, 14, NSW, 5 stars
Jet is just a normal Sydney girl who’s family relocate to her late mother’s region of France. Let’s do up a Chateaux and make it our home and a business. As she relocated her best friend has gone to Singapore. Now Jet has the adventure she was not expecting when a Ghost appears from a locket in her bedroom. Louis is about to take her on a new adventure that even has some crime sleuthing as well. An exciting read and hard to put down. Tianne, 47, NSW, 5 stars
A fun-filled book of adventure and friendship! Josephine moves to Château Margaux, a castle in France, with her dad, step-mum Ellie, and their dog Daisy. Her big brother Teddy to join them soon. The family plans to renovate the château and retrace her late mother’s family roots. Josephine has left behind her best friend Harriet, whom she’s known since their very first day of kindergarten. Harriet has also moved—this time to Singapore—but the two girls stay in touch, chatting about everything, including boys! The real adventure begins when Josephine finds a mysterious locket. Upon opening it, she meets Louis—a ghost, they become friends, despite a few hiccups along the way. Then comes Gabriel—a drop-dead gorgeous French boy—who captures Josephine’s attention. A mystery begins to unfold at the nearby Château du Lac. Josephine and Gabriel soon find themselves in trouble, and it’s up to Louis to help guide them out of a tricky situation. Lessons are learned, the reward is well worth it, and Josephine can’t wait to share everything with her best friend Harriet. A delightful read full of mystery, friendship, and just the right touch of romance. I can’t wait to read book two. Sharron, QLD, 5 stars
‘The Girl and the Ghost’ is a thrilling, always engaging book of a prince ghost, a dog and a thirteen year old girl who had just moved from Sydney all the way to France to live in an old chateau. It was very hilarious and had many sudden unexpected twists. The way she writes the book made it impossible to place it down -even for computer games and for my favourite meals. My mum had to patiently wait to even get my slight attention… although I immediately once again continued reading it before she could get the chance to even speak. This funny and enjoyable book was perfectly brilliant and I could always picture it in my mind exactly how it was supposed to be. ‘The Girl and the Ghost’ is an awesome new series. I am very ecstatic for the upcoming sequel to ‘The Girl and the Ghost’ book. It is a challenge not to read it once more. Chloe, 11, WA, 5 stars
The Girl and the Ghost is a mysterious and exciting book about friendship and adventure. I loved Jacqueline Harvey’s writing style because it was easy to understand but unique and engaging at the same time. I’m sure middle grade readers will absolutely love this book by Jacqueline Harvey. Scarlett, 10, NSW, 5 stars
Jet is just a normal Sydney girl who’s family relocate to her late mother’s region of France. Let’s do up a Chateaux and make it our home and a business. As she relocated her best friend has gone to Singapore. Now Jet has the adventure she was not expecting when a Ghost appears from a locket in her bedroom. Louis is about to take her on a new adventure that even has some crime sleuthing as well. An exciting read and hard to put down. Tianne, 47, NSW, 5 stars
The Girl and the Ghost is an intriguing read, featuring interesting characters, mystery, and a budding romance. Who wouldn’t want to live in a castle in the French countryside? Josephine is optimistic about this new adventure with her dad, step-mum Ellie, and dog Daisy, the golden retriever. She has no idea of the new friends she will make and the mystery she will uncover in the few short weeks before she even starts school! There’s a lot to learn about French history and famous artworks along the way, accompanied by idyllic descriptions of French towns and countryside. A. Yi’s illustrations complement Jacqueline Harvey’s story perfectly. I look forward to seeing where Josephine and Louis’ adventures take them next! Fran, NSW, 4 stars
This book kept me up at night, after I was meant to be sleeping – it was easy and fun to read. I like learning about Louis the Seventeenth in a fun, fictional way. I also liked reading about Josephine and Gabriel’s friendship. I’d like to find some more Jacqueline Harvey books now that I’ve read this one. Soph, 12, QLD, 4 stars
The Girl And The Ghost Review The Girl and the Ghost is a fantastic book that I HIGHLY recommend to young fantasy and mystery lovers. The plot was suspenseful and well created. This book uses suspense to keep you reading. The characters are fascinating and create drama and make the story way more interesting and made me want to keep reading. Overall, the characters interact well and don’t just wander around aimlessly they have a goal set in mind and the main character has a likeable and bold personality. This book was amazing, and I enjoyed reading it, highly recommend! Abigail, 12 years, QLD, 4 stars
Grace (12 years) says: I really enjoyed this story. The characters are believable and so is the family. Real families behave like that. I liked the storyline, it’s interesting and well paced. The first chapter was a bit slow but once the introductory stuff was done it was great. The information in the afterword about the French royal family was really interesting, and some of it should have been in the story. Jet’s research would have turned up some of it, and I would have loved to read that as part of the story. This was really good and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Mum says: This is a good book for middle readers. It recognises that they’re starting to mature, but keeps an age appropriate approach and language. It’s pretty grounded (for a ghost story!) and I can’t imagine any parents being worried about their kids reading this. It’s lively and interesting. Overall, both of us enjoyed this book. It’s entertaining, believable when it needs to be, and was very engaging. We’ll be looking out for the sequel. Lorraine (for Grace), 12, ACT, 4 stars
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