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1st out of 29 books
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14 voters
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Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story
Twelve-year-old Molly and her ten-year-old brother, Michael, have never liked their younger stepsister, Heather. Ever since their parents got married, she's made Molly and Michael's life miserable. Now their parents have moved them all to the country to live in a house that used to be a church, with a cemetery in the backyard. If that's not bad enough, Heather starts talki...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
April 21st 2008
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published January 1st 1986)
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Bringing a family together is never easy, but in Molly’s family, things are worse than normal. Along with her mother and brother, Molly has been living with her stepfather and stepsister, Heather, for six months, and Heather is still just as vengeful and hateful as she was the day of the wedding. When the family moves out to the country to live in a renovated church, Heather makes friends with a disturbed ghost, Helen, and larger catastrophes begin to strike.
Okay, far more interesting ...more
Okay, far more interesting ...more
Sigh...the good ghost stories that somehow passed me by as a kid...well, better late than never! This is a bone-chilling goodie, too. Everything I love in a ghost story: creepy little girls, hidden graves, faces in windows, crumbling ruins in the woods, even a dark and murky pond. Brrrrr!! A bit dated, but none-the-less, a gem of a read right before Halloween.
I loved this book! It was really creepy! I think all of you should read it! ......
Michaeal & Molly have to move to an old church (now a house) with their mom and new stepfather. They are not happy at ALL & will miss all of their friends! Unfourtunatly Molly has to share a room with her new step sister, Heather! She is really rude & creepy. One day Heather wanders off to the graveyard behind the house. She soon creepily comes attached to this one grave in particular. Then one day Heather pu...more
Michaeal & Molly have to move to an old church (now a house) with their mom and new stepfather. They are not happy at ALL & will miss all of their friends! Unfourtunatly Molly has to share a room with her new step sister, Heather! She is really rude & creepy. One day Heather wanders off to the graveyard behind the house. She soon creepily comes attached to this one grave in particular. Then one day Heather pu...more
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I thought it was great book because there was a lot of tention exciment and thrilling scenes i would reccomend this book to a lot of people. This book is about a family who move their children out of Baltimore for a better life. They move into a church they had three children Heather is the adopted one, Molly, and Michael they didnt like the idea of moving out of Baltimore. Just one day all of the three had their own activities to do during the day michael went out looking for bugs Molly just ...more
Molly and her brother have a stepsister Heather which they don't like. They move to the a church which has a graveyard in the back. Heather finds a grave and starts to talk to imagined friend Helen ... Or is she? Well Heather get killed by Helen? Why does Heather hate her new family? What secret is she keeping? Is Helen real?
I really liked this book for the most part. The writing was great and the plot was pretty good for the most part. At first it's pretty boring but in the last...more
I really liked this book for the most part. The writing was great and the plot was pretty good for the most part. At first it's pretty boring but in the last...more
Read this one aloud to my students again.
Nothing gets the blood chilling like ghost children. Shiver...
Nothing gets the blood chilling like ghost children. Shiver...
i liked it a lot , but it was scary that is why i kept reading on .
Wait Till Helen Comes is a good scary story. I liked it a lot, even though I don't read a lot of scary stuff.
what it's about: a girl and her new younger stepsister move to the countryside, and they fight all the time. the younger stepsister is suddenly drawn in by a tombstone in the graveyard next to their house; the initials on the tombstone matches the little girl's. (sorry, I don't remember what the initials were!)
and so the story continues on as the stepsister uses her ghost f...more
what it's about: a girl and her new younger stepsister move to the countryside, and they fight all the time. the younger stepsister is suddenly drawn in by a tombstone in the graveyard next to their house; the initials on the tombstone matches the little girl's. (sorry, I don't remember what the initials were!)
and so the story continues on as the stepsister uses her ghost f...more
This book is based on a true ghost story and the way this story is told will thrill you and will keep you thinking about it for hours.
Heather had become Michael and Molly's sister after their mom married her dad. Heather is usually a brat to Michael and Molly and hardly has any friends. Until they move to a new place and Heather finds a new friend out in the graveyard. She has been dead for about a hundred years and her name is Helen. Her ghost is still around and she tries to get kids to ...more
Heather had become Michael and Molly's sister after their mom married her dad. Heather is usually a brat to Michael and Molly and hardly has any friends. Until they move to a new place and Heather finds a new friend out in the graveyard. She has been dead for about a hundred years and her name is Helen. Her ghost is still around and she tries to get kids to ...more
Asharia Calderon
added it
This book was EXTREMELY intense ! It all started when Heather's dad married Ashley's and her brother's mom . Heather's mom had died a few years ago and Heather was only about 8 or 9 so it was hard for her to except that her dad's attention wasn't just for her anymore. Ashley always tried to be nice to Heather , but Heather was very to herself and she would always lie to her dad saying how bad her new brother and sister were treating her. They moved to a house by a an old burnt down a...more
Wait Till Helen Comes is a story that has supernatural elements in it. Heather is the new step-sister, and their parents are just trying to get the kids to get along. Heather meets a ghost named Helen who possesses her and tries to lure her into drowning in the same lake she did, so they can be eternal friends. This book intrigued me right from the get go. It is a scary story, even as an adult, but ends nicely with the family getting along nicely and they are happy.
I think it would be...more
I think it would be...more
Goodreads describes the book as follows:
Beware of Helen...
Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we're stuck with her...our "poor stepsister" who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire.
But now something terrible has happened. Heather has found a new friend, out in the graveyard behind our home -- a girl named Helen who died with her family in a mysterious fire over a hun...more
Beware of Helen...
Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we're stuck with her...our "poor stepsister" who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire.
But now something terrible has happened. Heather has found a new friend, out in the graveyard behind our home -- a girl named Helen who died with her family in a mysterious fire over a hun...more
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I usually read the things on my kids' bookshelves, and not just because it's a fun, fast read. Though I thought I'd read this one already, enough of the story was new to me to convince me I hadn't yet.
Molly(12) and her brother, Michael(10), lived with their mom, Jean. Dave married Jean, bringing along his daughter, Heather(7), who has a much troubled past. It's hard enough trying to reconcile the differences between the kids without the excess baggage Heather brings. When they move, to...more
Molly(12) and her brother, Michael(10), lived with their mom, Jean. Dave married Jean, bringing along his daughter, Heather(7), who has a much troubled past. It's hard enough trying to reconcile the differences between the kids without the excess baggage Heather brings. When they move, to...more
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn, narrated by Ellen Grafton, is an excellent tale of a blended family whose move to the country deepens the divisions between siblings Molly and Michael and their step-sister Heather. Heather's mother died in a fire when Heather was just three and she resents her father's new wife and stepchildren. She does everything she can to disrupt the new relationships and and sow discord. The children's parents, both artists, buy a former church with an old gra...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A child's book? Maybe if your child is between the ages of 12-15. Otherwise, I do not recommend it to the younger set as it is creepy/scary and while written in the voice of a 12-year old girl, there were parts which disturbed even me.
The youngest child, Heather, (aged 7) demonstrates sociopathic tendencies and is easily NOT my favorite child in this story. The brother/sister team of Michael and Molly are endearing in their frustration with their mother and step-father's always ...more
The youngest child, Heather, (aged 7) demonstrates sociopathic tendencies and is easily NOT my favorite child in this story. The brother/sister team of Michael and Molly are endearing in their frustration with their mother and step-father's always ...more
I liked this book because it was a realy thrilling book and it was so cool. I don't think that gohsts are real but they might but you never know. This book was about a little girl that when she was 4 her family was in a fire and she hid in the stove. Isn't that sad. Her mom keep looking and looking and died in the fire when she was surching in the house. A fireman fond her and brought her to her dad. The little girls name was Hether and she is now 7 and she lives with her dads girlfriend and her...more
"Wait Till Helen Comes" is surprisingly creepy and well-plotted for a children's horror novel. The story is narrated by 12 year old Molly, who, with her brother Michael, detests her new stepsister, Heather. Heather is a disturbed child that loves to stir up trouble and seems to live to make Molly and Michael miserable. When the family moves to an abandoned church in the country with a graveyard in the backyard, Heather befriends a sinister ghost named Helen. It's up to Molly to save he...more
We meet a family who decides to move to the country for the parents to be able to work on their artistic endeavors. A brother and sister are reluctant to move and be restricted to hanging out with just their step-sister most of the time. Their relationship gets even worse when they move out to the country. Their step-sister will never listen to them even though their are in charge of looking after her. She plays by the graveyard, pond, and abandoned house. She makes a strange new friend and thre...more
Molly and Michael have been having a hard time ever since their mom married Dave. Mostly because Dave's daughter Heather seems to enjoy torturing them a little too much. When here family moves to an old church in the country, Heather befriends a ghost names Helen. Thinking that Hellen is the only one that truly loves her, Heather will do anything to keep her close. Anything at all. Her friend is polluting the family more then anyone cares to admit and only Molly knows the truth. Can she save eve...more
A lot of students seem to gravitate to this book: spooky cover, spooky title, and a truly scary ghost story. It's been around since 1986, but the story is pretty timeless. Michael and Molly move with their mother, step-father, and his daughter to an old church in the country. The parents feel it has the makings of a perfect home for the family. Of course, there is a graveyard behind the church. There is also considerable tension between the step-daughter, Heather, who resents her father's l...more
Reviewed by Clara H.
“Just wait till Helen comes. You’ll be sorry then for all the things you’ve done to me.”
Heather, Molly and Michael’s step sister, is hard to get along with. She is unpleasant, and doesn’t seem to want love from them. She does mean stuff, and then blames all of them to Molly and Michael. She even makes mom and Dave fight. But when they move to a converted church with Mom’s new husband Dave and Heather, Heather becomes worse than she was before. Sh...more
“Just wait till Helen comes. You’ll be sorry then for all the things you’ve done to me.”
Heather, Molly and Michael’s step sister, is hard to get along with. She is unpleasant, and doesn’t seem to want love from them. She does mean stuff, and then blames all of them to Molly and Michael. She even makes mom and Dave fight. But when they move to a converted church with Mom’s new husband Dave and Heather, Heather becomes worse than she was before. Sh...more
Molly (age 12), her brother Michael (10), mother Jean, stepfather Dave, and stepsister Heather (7) had been living together for half a year when they move from Baltimore (which, according to the family, is the land of drug dealers and cockroaches and nothing else) to a converted church-house in the country where there is nature and fresh air for the kids and studio space for the adults (who are artists of course; who else would choose to live in a former church?). Oh, also for the kids is a grav...more
A great ghost story.....I have been recommending it to readers 4th and up if they like this type of book.
This is a story about a blended family. They move into a home that used to be a church. Molly (the narrator who is 12)and Michael really dislike their new stepsister Heather. She is constantly trying to get them in trouble ever since their parents married. When they move into this new converted church as their home, they make a discovery in their backyard - a graveyard. Heather en...more
This is a story about a blended family. They move into a home that used to be a church. Molly (the narrator who is 12)and Michael really dislike their new stepsister Heather. She is constantly trying to get them in trouble ever since their parents married. When they move into this new converted church as their home, they make a discovery in their backyard - a graveyard. Heather en...more
Not a bad little ghost story, if a bit of an overly precious ending. More 3 1/2 than 4, really, but I upgraded it instead of downgraded. I'm sure if I read it when I was a good bit younger, I would've been truly scared in places. Mostly it reminded me of one of those 'Haunted in X" pseudo-docs that they do on that one channel. I forget which.
As it was, I couldn't quite get past just how annoyingly bratty the youngest sister was, and how much the parents were giant douches. ...more
As it was, I couldn't quite get past just how annoyingly bratty the youngest sister was, and how much the parents were giant douches. ...more
Tiff
rated it
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review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
kids ages 10 and up who want a little scare!
I remember loving this book as a kid, so when I walked into my local library and saw a used copy for sale, it was a no-brainer. I just re-read this story, and I thought it was pretty good. The events are intriguing, and the similarities between the bratty stepsister Heather and the ghost are haunting. I recommend this for school libraries, I can see it being checked out many times.
This is a ghost story. Molly and her brother Michael were happy with their mother, and when she met Dave they were okay with that too. What they didn't like was Dave's daughter, and now their step-sister, Heather. Heather, a girl who's 7 years old, watched her mother die in a fire. Molly and Michael respect that, and try to comfort her and be-friend her, but Heather just doesn't like them. Whenever they try to play with her, Heather twists what they say and do to get them in trouble, and it work...more
This was my favorite book as a preteen! I just ran across a copy at the Book Loft in Columbus, OH and had to buy it. I loved this book so much I must have borrowed it from the public library a dozen times!
It's about a two kids whose artsy parents move them and their bratty little stepsister to an old remodeled church in the country, complete with a creepy old graveyard. Heather, the kids' stepsister, is always causing trouble with her meanness and tattle-telling. Their parents...more
It's about a two kids whose artsy parents move them and their bratty little stepsister to an old remodeled church in the country, complete with a creepy old graveyard. Heather, the kids' stepsister, is always causing trouble with her meanness and tattle-telling. Their parents...more
This book, when I first started it, made me so angry! Heather's actions towards Molly and Michael were something I could understand, having seen something similar first hand from an older step-sibling. However, Dave's reactions towards his daughter and his constant blame of the other kids angered me the most. Even Molly's mom took Heather's side often, and it frustrated me to no end. The story did end on a positive note, and when I found out why Heather acted the way she did, I not only understo...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why this was a wonderful book? | 13 | 24 | Jan 26, 2012 06:03am | |
| Are you looking for a good thriller? | 2 | 5 | Nov 23, 2011 01:44pm |
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