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APPOINTMENT WITH A STRANGER by Jean Thesman

APPOINTMENT WITH A STRANGER

By

Pub Date: April 1st, 1989
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Keller Parrish, chronically lonely because her embarrassing asthma attacks have made her painfully shy, gets to know a mysterious young man who has saved her from drowning. Tom is never in school, and no one else has seen or heard of him--not irrepressibly funny Drew, who is becoming fond of Keller in spite of her persistent evasions; not nice new friend Rose, who is sympathetic to Keller's health problems since her mother also has asthma. But Keller is irresistibly drawn to Tom and continues to meet him by the pond near an abandoned house where he seems to live, suppressing all questions until Drew finally looks up Tom's family name at the library and proves conclusively that Tom must be a ghost. Falling in love with a ghost is not a new plot, but it still has the appeal of star-crossed lovers plus suspense about whether the non-ghost lover will chose to join the dead one. Though Keller's story is overlong, it has strengths, among them the sympathetic portrait of an asthmatic--Keller's emotional problems have been exacerbated by two traumatic events, but knowing Tom helps her begin to overcome them; the character of Drew--perceptive, kind, and splendidly witty (much more appealing than shadowy Tom); and an engaging narrative style. Neither as intense nor as poetic as The Last April Dancers (1987), but entertaining nonetheless.