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GHOST OF A CHANCE by Laura Peyton Roberts

GHOST OF A CHANCE

By

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 1997
Publisher: Delacorte

A breezy story of two best friends obsessing over several gorgeous guys--including one ghost--in sunny California. Melissa, 16, addresses readers directly, providing a voice-over to her own life--her parents are going through a divorce, she has an annoying little brother, and her modest home is up for sale--which she considers horrible in comparison to her best friend Chioe's situation--her parents are rich, she has just moved into a mansion, she is irresistible to guys, and she has a ghost living with her. James died in 1939, a gorgeous, perpetual 18-year-old. Melissa's in love with him, he's in love with Chloe, Chloe's in love with many others. Much of the ink spilled in this book covers discussions of who is in love with whom--and if that sounds tedious, it is. The narration is slick, full of superficial descriptions of the attractiveness of these vacuous young adults, of which bikini which girl is going to wear, of the whimpers of envy each girl has for the other's life. The presence of the ghost hardly alters the landscape of the more earthly YA concerns of divorcing parents and dating; in the end, a few family wrinkles are ironed out, the ghost is banished, and the two girls at last find themselves walking behind their double dates, admiring how real boys look in their jeans.