SHARP HORNS ON THE MOON

A lonely fisherman's daughter finds a dubious playmate in this suspenseful ghost story, set in a remote corner of a Florida island. Missing her fisherman father, missing her dead mother, wishing she could go to school in town instead of at home, Ivy escapes her fussy aunt by swimming alone on Boneyard Reef. When something nearly pulls her down, she finds herself with a new and exciting companion: the ghost of a drowned child who calls herself Eleanor. No ordinary ghost, Eleanor can make cranes dance, turn solid enough to braid hair, and give Ivy the ability to walk on water. She's also moody and wild, leading Ivy into dangerous situations, showing a wide streak of jealousy, and ultimately demanding that Ivy use the power that summoned her to travel back in time and prevent the shipwreck that killed Eleanor and her family. Crowe cranks up the tension with plenty of disembodied voices, horrible visions, and disturbing revelations, then releases it in a snappy climax, sending Ivy back to save Eleanor's ship at the cost of a tumble off a cliff. She wakes in the island's hospital to learn that her father is at last buying a house in town, and to make a more reliable friend in Katie, a schoolmate-to-be who counts Eleanor as an ancestor. A strong novel, featuring an unusually scary, mercurial ghost. (Fiction. 10-13)