Spirit

Sally Christie is a special writer. She has the knack of making the everyday seem so much more than its parts but when something extraordinary does take place it is then described almost casually. The younger teenager characters she creates sound just like the real thing but are also given moments when they transcend their normal selves. Their kind parents and teachers also occasionally surprise by saying or doing the otherwise unexpected.

This particular story involves shy, taciturn Matt almost committing social suicide when he insists during a game of Truth or Dare that he had actually seen a spirit in a nearby wood. Only one girl in his audience believes him, and along with her younger sister the trio spends time away from everyone else attempting to raise the spirit again. Jazzy, the older girl involved, is also playing Ariel in the school production of The Tempest, but her former best friend Tash, now feeling discarded, is out for revenge.

What finally takes place in the woods occupies numbers of pages and is confusing for all concerned, including readers, but this is the only time that Christie falters in her narration. Otherwise Shakespeare, fairies, teenage romance and a pet dog who is the only one who really knows what is going on all merge into a near-magical story that also manages to keep its fictional feet firmly on the ground. The result is an imaginative treat from an author of true originality who never disappoints.