OUT OF THE DARK

A premier author of reliable ghost stories offers this eerie tale, built on some tried and true elements: recurrent nightmares, a sinister old schoolhouse, family secrets, parallels between past and present, old diaries, and red herrings. Jessica, 12, is happy to move into her grandmother's house in the elderly woman's absence, until a tall, furious-looking woman starts to haunt her dreams. There's a romance, too, and if it all seems complex and remote, it's of immediate concern to the ghost, who inexplicably menaces Jessica wherever she goes and in a stormy climax, traps her in a storage chamber under the abandoned school. Wright saves a few surprises for the end and sends readers a homily about the dangers of uncontrolled anger. Although some of the details seem contrived, the suspenseful plot, sturdy cast and particularly threatening ghost will pull readers through this page- turner. (Fiction. 10-13)