supercheesegirl

This was a decent read, and I love the setting: the time period when photographic technology is just starting to become popular. Avi includes wonderful details that really evoke the feel of early photography, and he meshes science and superstition really well. However, I feel like there were some plot holes and storytelling flaws that Avi got away with only because the book is aimed at a young audience. There was so much build-up in favor of science and logic, and so much foreshadowing of a supernatural occurrence, that the Horace's otherworldly seer powers seemed simultaneously unnatural for the story that was set up (when I was expecting a logical explanation) and also completely predictable. Other than Pegg and Horace, every character is a one-dimensional: Horace's father is scientific, Middleditch is greedy and cowardly, and the ghost is out for revenge. And the ending bothered me; it felt really tacked on. Avi is talking about an interracial marriage in the 1870s, and even in the North that couldn't have been too common. What did Horace's parents really think? Did they face any prejudice when they moved to Vermont? And the last few paragraphs were frustrating. The daughter's name combined with her illness are supposed to tug on the heartstrings, but for me it's a false, unearned emotional resonance. Overall, I think the book is fine for mid-range readers, and the photography details will really make it interesting for sciencey kids, but for older readers it falls a little flat. I've seen Avi do much better.