This Is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes

Bibliographic Information:

• Title: This Is Not a Ghost Story
• Author: Andrea Portes
• ISBN: 0062422448
• Publisher: Harperteen
• Copyright Date: November 17, 2020

Genre: Horror/Mystery/Thriller

Format: Book

Awards/Honors: YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers nominee 2022

Reading Level/Interest Level: Teens Ages 13-18 (Goodreads.com, 2020)

Plot Summary: In her summer before beginning college, Daffodil Turner takes a job house sitting to earn money to help pay for her room and board at Bryn Mawr. Despite the homeowner warning Daffodil that the rumors are not true, strange occurrences begin to happen. Objects are moved or disappear, there are strange animal scratching noises at night, a mysterious neighbor appears out of nowhere, and despite the the fact that a construction crew is busy working on an addition every day, no work seems to be getting done. Daffodil is determined to stay in the house and occupies her time binge-watching TV shows and reading books. When she ventures into town, it is as if she is invisible- the townspeople ignore her and act as if she is not there. As Daffodil’s anxiety grows, she begins to have strange nightmares and flashbacks to her first love in high school. As her reality and paranormal experiences start to blend, Daffodil starts to realize that she is not alone- that the house has taken on a life of its own.

Author Background: Andrea Portes is a bestselling novelist of adult, young adult, and middle-grade books. Her first novel, Hick (2007), was an instant best seller and was adapted into a movie starring Alec Baldwin (Andrea Portes, 2020). Her young adult novels include Anatomy of a Misfit (2014), The Fall of Butterflies (2016) and Liberty: The Spy Who (Kind of) Liked Me (2017). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Portes wrote This is Not a Ghost Story (2020) which was immediately optioned for a movie. In 2021/2022, Portes plans to publish a YA fantasy series, a dystopian YA series/TV series, and two fiction novels (Wikipedia, 2021).

Andrea Portes grew up outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. She attended Bryn Mawr college. Currently, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son, and dog (Andrea Portes, 2020).

Critical Evaluation: This Is Not a Ghost Story is told in the first-person narrative of seventeen-year-old Daffodil Turner. It is well written, fast-paced, and engaging. Portes combines humor with horror to create a story that is both scary and funny. Daffodil’s analysis of her situation and of herself will keep readers entertained and interested. The plot has many twists and turns, and the end is not predictable. The author describes the setting in detail- the reader can easily picture the haunted house and the details of the rooms. The characters are well developed. This book was hard to out down. Teens who like horror, reliable narrators, and humor will enjoy this book.

Creative Use for a Library Program: A campfire with ghost stories would be a great program for this book! We could build a fire outside of the library or use a portable fire pit. If there is no space outside the library, a fake campfire could be constructed inside. The teens could take turns telling spooky ghost stories. We could make S’mores as a snack.

Speed-Round Book Talk: When Daffodil Turner takes a job house sitting, she has no idea that her ideal summer job will turn into her worst nightmare! Objects start to move around and disappear, there are strange noises at night, anf mysterious neighbors appear out of nowhere. When she begins to have bizarre nightmares, Daffodil realizes that the house has taken on a life of its own!

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense: There could be potential challenges to This Is Not a Ghost Story since it deals with ghosts and paranormal activity. Some religious groups could be offended by this. The defense to this would be that many teens enjoy reading horror as a genre and the library should provide books that appeal to all teens.

Reason for Inclusion: I included This Is Not a Ghost Story because teens like horror as a genre. I wanted to include a horror book that is not too scary and contained some humor. This book was recommended to me by several people. This book will appeal to teens since it is short, engaging, scary, and funny.

References:

Andrea Portes. (2020). About. Retrieved from http://andreaportes.net/bio/

Epic Reads. (2016, May 20). Life-affirming quotes from Andrea Portes. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdVhkzBmNoI&ab_channel=EpicReads

Wikipedia. (2021, May 5). Andrea Portes. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Portes