3 out of 4 stars
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Do you have an imaginary friend you can talk to? Do they help you solve problems and get even with people who have treated you poorly? For Rebecca, her imaginary friend provided company and comfort. Rebecca was an only child who spent half the summer with each of her divorced parents. She spent a lot of time with her grandparents while her dad was at work. One of the neighborhood boys told her he would pay her $20 to retrieve a baseball glove from a haunted house. He also suggested that girls were more afraid than boys, so he knew she would not go get it. That made her want to go to the house even more. Rebecca and Ruby and the Haunted House by Jacques Gaudreault is the second book in the Rebecca and Ruby series. This is a fictional story of a young girl who had an imaginary dragon friend named Ruby. The book describes their escapades at an old, abandoned house.
I liked how the author developed the characters of Rebecca and Ruby. I could picture the young girl wandering the neighborhood talking to Ruby, while trying to keep people from thinking that she was talking to herself. I liked Rebecca. She was smart and daring. She was not afraid to explore. Like most decisions made on a dare, she made a bad one when she went to the abandoned house. Her grandparents had warned her not to go there because it was dangerous, but as most youngsters do to fit in, she took the bait from the boys.
There was not anything I disliked about the story. This is the second book in a series and was entertaining with lots of twists and turns. The book was a good stand-alone read and I did not feel that it was necessary to read the first book to understand this story. The ending of the book set the reader up to want to read the next in the series.
There were some spelling and punctuation errors, but they did not take away from the story. I think the book provided some valuable life lessons. Because some spelling and punctuation errors did exist, I gave the book 3 out of 4 stars. An additional round of editing would make this book a 4-star book. Overall, this is a well-written book that provides a solid lesson in treating others with kindness.
I recommend this book to any adventure-loving young reader. I think many people could see themselves in this book. It is a story of trying to fit in, having imaginary friends to comfort and help with decisions, and growing up alone and sometimes lonely.
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Rebecca and Ruby series The Haunted House
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