Like a modern-day Holden Caulfield, high-school junior Emil Simon searches for meaning in a world of abandonment and falsity. Still mourning the recent death of his mother, who lost a battle with cancer, Emil barely has time to cope before his idolized older brother, Ethan, mysteriously disappears. Searching through Ethan’s belongings, Emil finds a master key to their prestigious school, which he takes advantage of when his father goes out of town on business. Prowling around the academy at night, Emil meets Jade, the daughter of a faculty member who harbors her own ghosts. As Emil and Jade’s relationship intensifies, Emil learns the shocking truths behind the “disappearances” of his family members. Emil’s narrative is bluntly authentic, capturing with pinpoint accuracy a teen’s dialect of razor-sharp wit, cynicism and disaffection. Ethan’s legacy of the master key is quite literally the key that opens up the mysteries in Emil’s life, acting as a catalyst toward his own self-realization. Corrigan has created a convincing male protagonist who should captivate either gender. This Ghost is a haunting read, sure to linger. (Fiction. YA)
