I started to read books by Richard Peck when I was around 11 years old. I had been writing for about 2 years at the time  and I loved….ADORED ghost stories so when I won ” The Ghost Belonged To Me ” in my classes weekly spelling test challange, I was thrilled with my prize on a serveral levels.

FIrst of all it was a ghost story and in that story was the ghost of a girl and a her ghost dog ( plus) the main character ( Alexander ) had an Uncle who told him stories about a premature burial, a suicide that took place in the family’s sitting room and at the end Alexander and his Uncle and Blossom ( who I will get to in a minute ) all end up in New Orleans in Cemetery #1 where they reinter the bones of the Ghost Girl and her dog together.

I kept reading the adventures of Alexander and Blossom as I got older – but plot twist- it turned out Blossom Culp ended up capturing the series from Alexander who was the main characater at the onset of the story.

From the start, even though Alexander could see ghosts ( in fact, in the first book Blossom was just a girl with a sense of adventure ) Blossom had more meat on  the bones of her story.

Blossom and her Mom lived in a shack near the railroad tracks and raided their neighbors gardens for food and Alexander’s family was well to do.

In one chapter Alexander talks about being served his bacon and eggs breakfast  by the family’s help that Alexander’s mother refered to as ‘the servant’.  The servant replies that the help weren’t refered to as servants where we ALL come from – so you kind of get the hint that Alexander’s Mom is well off now, but she probably wasn’t before she got married- and she married well.

Blossom had an apple and a nickel for milk for her breakfast.

Blossom’s Mom was a Gypsy Fortune Teller who helped the police by communicating with the Jane and John Does- who it was explained were decapidated at the morgue, their heads were placed in jars of formaldahyde and kept in a speacial room for ID because there wasn’t any other way to store them. Did I mention Blossom could talk to the dead? Well she could though she always felt her powers weren’t up to par with her Mom’s- only because Blossom was never sure if her Mom ever reached her full potential ( which is sort of a statement on poverty when you think about it ).

These are great books, they aren’t meant to be read once and set aside. Pick one, read it and see if you agree.