The Ghosts of Stay Gold

 

Hello literary world! I start with you because I am here to praise upon the book The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty. I don't even know where to begin.

 

I'll start here-with a small summary. The book contains the story of five teenagers' (Lydia, Emily, Riley, Amelia, and Toby) final year at Ashbury High. Moriarty's tale comes through the impressive format of Higher School Certificate exam answers as well varying homework assignments, emails, and notes. There are ghosts, a mysterious, yet perfect couple, and a historical account of an Irish convict.

That's quite the odd collection, you say. Read the book, I say! And onto my thoughts on this book. First off, I'll start by saying that I have previously read The Year of Secret Assignments, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, and Feeling Sorry for Celia, all of which are written by Jaclyn Moriarty and recount the stories of students at Ashbury High. You don't need to have read these books before The Ghosts of Ashbury High, but I highly recommend it. They give you an insight into some of the students' characters, occur prior to this book in a timeline-ly fashion, and fabulously allow you to draw upon hints and mentions to previous events, relationships, etc.

The connections. That is one of the main reasons I love this book. It all seems to start off very discombobulated. But, section by section it all comes together! Every question is answered; any speculation is reassured. It is just wonderful! I want reread it all over again. Then, I can pick up on the hints and realize the hidden meaning of that line in that poem that one person wrote. Because there was a reason behind it!

I am getting very happy about this. It's just satisfying the way Moriarty planned it all out. That is what led me to read this book in the first place. Not because I knew the storyline, but because it had a very similar structure to The Year of Secret Assignments. That is not only my favorite book by Moriarty, but one of my all time favorite books ever!

Another source of struggle (yet intrigue) is the fact that Moriarty is an Australian author. Therefore, there are lots of Australian things that I don't understand. Maybe the Brits do, but I'm 98% sure all Americans are with me on this. For example, those Higher School Certificate exams? Never heard of them. There are also "years" such as Year 12 and maths! Preposterous!, you might say. There is no "s" at the end of math. Oh, the things you will learn.

Lastly, the characters themselves. I don't believe this gives out any spoilers of any kind, but beware. Lydia. A dear friend from Secret Assignments. She is probably my favorite. I respect her carelessness(?). Being a perfectionist myself, the ease at which she seems to skips school and throws her sarcastic personality into her homework is almost admirable. She's her own person and doesn't worry about other people- their thoughts about her, what they do, etc. I say that in a way that shows how independent she is and rarely cares about her self-image. Emily is a rather invigorating girl. A lover of chocolate and talking, I'd say she's easiest for me to relate to. In addition to the fact that she pursues her career in law vigorously after some adults and test scores don't quite have the faith in her to succeed. Furthermore, she's fun and chatty, always trying to help her friends, and has most creative imagination. Who wouldn't want a friend like that? Riley and Amelia were an invigorating twosome. It took me a while to catch on to their story, so I won't go into too much detail as to not spoil the fun! However, I was a bit thrown off in the very beginning since it starts off with Riley's exam who is in fact a boy. (It's a unisex name; how was I to know?) Toby's story/exam answer had a bit of a difficult time keeping me on track. I thought about skipping his sections. I did not and they did not hinder my advancement through the book as I finished it the day after I started. It turns out to be important in the end!

In conclusion, however, there is no ghost haunting my blog. Any of the books mentioned above are great for leisurely reading; I was just enthralled with this one in particular! (And watch out for a friendly ghost reading over your shoulder!J)