Ghost Cadet

by Elaine Marie Alphin

Honor is everything--even to a ghost cadet!

Benjy Stark isn't at all happy about spending his spring vacation with his grandmother in Virginia. She probably won't like him; no one else seems to. So the last thing Benjy expects to do is make a friend--especially one who's a ghost!

Cadet William Hugh McDowell was killed at the Civil War battle of New Market more than one hundred years ago. He's doomed to haunt the battlefield until he finds his grandfather's gold watch--the watch he'd hidden from the Yankees just before he died.

If Hugh's spirit is ever to rest in peace, Benjy must help him find the watch and get it back to its rightful place in history. Benjy is scared. After all, no one has ever depended on him for anything. Now Benjy's new best friend is betting all eternity that he will succeed.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Civil War, Ghosts, Young Adult, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1991

About the author

I was born on 30 October 1955 in San Francisco, California, and attended Lafayette Elementary School in San Francisco. Then my family moved to New York City, where I attended William H. Carr Junior High School. This is a school picture of me from my junior high school days. After that we moved to Houston, and I went to Westchester High School and on to Rice University.

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 1 out of 5]

My biggest issue with this children's story was that interspersed was a large amount of pro-Southern viewpoints that are often espoused by apologists. Miss Leota, the matriarch of the story, talked about topics such as the aggression of the North, the greatness of Southern leader Stonewall Jackson, and how Southerners were in the war mainly to defend their homes and possessions. This may all be true to an extent, but the story does not talk about other pressing issues, such as the brutality of slavery, or the vast differences in economic systems between the North and South. In this way, I feel the Confederate cause is somewhat glorified in a false manner. Indeed, both sides had selfish intent, but I don't think that children should be taught that the South was an innocent participant, as this book seems to imply at many junctures.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, story time...

In fifth grade, I was required to read this book as part of our unit on the Civil War. Not only did I read it from cover to cover, but, I did a book report of sorts on it. Despite working hard on the assignment, I only got a "C," because my teachers--that is, many of them; not just that one or even just the ones I had that year--didn't understand that drawing is not my strong suit, even though it was obvious to my entire class that I didn't have good coordination. In fact, I still don't.

Fast forward to today. Somehow, in the past year or so, a beat-up copy of this book ended up in my collection. My guess is that I got it from a garage sale, but it just as easily could have been a thrift store or library sale; I'm an avid bargain hunter. While rereading it, I mostly enjoyed it, though it wasn't anything amazing. However, my copy was so messed up that, just after I finished reading it, the front cover fell off! After that, I know that even the thrift stores won't accept it, so I had to throw it in the recycle bin...which I hate doing to any book, as both a bibliophile and a library employee.

[Nate N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good historcal fiction book. It had a lot a intersting and weird stuff within the book but it was still okay. I wish it had a better ending, it felt like it was rush.

[cooper elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

spooky 👻 🕷️

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reference information:
Title: “The Ghost Cadet”
Author: Elaine Marie Alphin
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks Year: May 1992
# of pages: 192 Genre: Historical Fiction
Reading level: Ages 9-12 Interest level: Very interesting
Potential hot lava: Nothing out of the ordinary


General response/reaction:
I first read this book back when I was in the fourth grade, because we were learning about Virginia history and being from Shenandoah County, Civil War is a big part of our heritage. I really liked this book because it had suspense and talked of the history of the Civil War near where I am from. It had really great morals and the main character opens up and is not as fearful as he once was in the beginning.

Subjects, Themes, and Big Ideas:
The theme throughout of this book talks of the importance of being yourself and not letting anyone tell you otherwise of how to be or act. The main character keeps to himself and when a Civil War ghost appears, Benjy finally finds a friend that doesn’t pick on him. The moral to this story is that you have to face things in life that you never thought you once would or that you really would want to do and help out a friend in need.

Characters:
Benjamin “Benjy” Stark- main character, bookish, keeps to self
Fran Stark- older sister to Benjy, typical mean older sister
Cadet William Hugh McDowell- ghost who fought and died in the Civil War back to find what a family heirloom
Miss Leota- Benjy and Fran’s paternal grandmother they have never met

Plot summary:
This book is about a “ghost cadet” coming back to present day whose spirit will not go to rest because he has been waiting far too long to find a personal possession he had hidden before he died at the battle of New Market. Benjy the main character in present day goes to New Market on a vacation to see his paternal grandmother who he has never met. Benjy has always been picked on but when the ghost cadet asks for his help, he has to act brave and man up to the challenge.

Strengths (including reviews and awards):
Virginia State Reading Association Young Readers Award for Best Book
Drawbacks or other cautions:
If you are not very interested in history this book is probably not for you. It deals mostly with a cadet’s triumph to find a family heirloom and tales of the Civil War.

Teaching ideas:
This book is very popular among the elementary/middle school aged group. This would be a great book to read aloud in class. Give the students a chance to learn history and learn a little bit about developing friendships. This book would be a very good “Book Project” instead of writing a book report, have the students make up a scene from any part of the book in a diorama type project. Doing something fun to get their imaginations thinking, picturing the battle and the golden watch.

[Rachel Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book when I was a kid.

[Shally Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

After learning about Civil War history from his teacher, Benji is visited by a ghost named Cadet Willima Hugh McDowell. Thie encountering happens because before the cadet's death, he lost an old family watch at which he needs in order to be able to stop haunting the battle field where he died. The cadet was originally killed at the battle of New Market over one hundred years prior which makes it even harder for Benji to help his new friend. Benji has not been depended on for anything and he is scared to take such risks. Benji has to figure out if he will help and if he does than how he will do it.

My reaction:
I think this book was good but fairly predictable. I liked the history backing the story and the setting of the book. I would recommend it to a reluctant reader or a younger reader who likes historical fiction.

Number of pages: 182
Copyright: 1991

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in complete astonished how well written this book was considering it geared towards young teens! I am in my late 20's already and wished that I read more of her books when I was in my teens. This book is about a young outcast boy, Benjy, being forced to visit his grandmother not knowing that he is in for a crazy ride. Along his visit, he learns so much about the Civil War battle of New Market which brings him about his ghost friend, Hugh. From there, Benjy is on a quest to find a missing watch in order to keep his friendship. I would definitely give this book 2 thumbs up. I highly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a children's story written in 1991. It was shocking reading it. Inaccurate on so many levels. It was cringe worthy!

Benjy and his older sister Fran are dropped off at their grandmother's home in a small southern town. Their mother works long hours to support the family of three as their father ditched them years ago. She now has a boyfriend and they are off on a vacation. As I said, they are at their grandmothers staying for a number of days. They have no relationship with her as they haven't had contact with her before.

Benjy doesn't have friends. He is made fun of, so he reads a lot. Fran is 16 and like any teenager who has a younger brother, treats her brother with disdain. They don't spend much time with their mother as she works a lot (as I mentioned before). They have to fend for themselves and don't have a relationship with her either. Benjy claims she doesn't care, but her telephone call and the post card she send him says differently.

This story takes place arriving at their grandmother's home. Their grandmother is a true southern woman proud of her southern roots, "In the South,we preserve our memories and New Market was certainly a shining moment in our history". (my eyes rolled). She leaves very close to the battlefield in New Market, Virginia. She claims we southerners don't call the Civil War, the Civil War, we call it The War Between The States. I'm a Canadian who has lived in different parts of the South for the past 23 years, including Virginia twice, and I haven't heard of it as so. She referred to the northern people as Yankees numerous times ("You mean the Yankees? Whatever have your schools taught you?.....). People in the south do not call northerners as Yankees either. She also referred Stonewell Jackson as the greatest of Southern leaders. Groan. It was repeated numerous times that The War Between The States was fought to "defend their homes and possessions". She's sugar coating it, because their way of life was on the backbones of the black people who were stolen from Africa and brought over to the south to work as slaves on the plantation homes and fields for the wealthy southern families.

I kept thinking what a crock of propaganda I am reading?! Children have been reading this for the last 30 plus years and believing this. Not once was it mentioned about slaves.

The other part of the story that irritated me had to do with the ghost. That's Not how ghosts ghost, even if you don't believe in them. They don't have full on conversations with a live person. First the author is teaching children inaccurate history and second about how ghosts ghost. If this wasn't a friend's book she loaned me, I would be throwing it out in the garbage.

When Benjy comes across a piece of land that says Keep Out, he climbs over it. It's where the battle took place so he finds out where he meets the ghost, a boy a few years older than he is. The ghost, Hugh lost something that his grandfather gave to him in the battle where he died. He seeks Benjy's help because he wants Benjy to help him find it because he "dishonored his family" and they are "not proud of him" (my eyes rolling again). By now what happened is lost in the generations (great-great-great-grandfather) from him to Benjy. Seriously, does that still hold up after all these years that a family would still feel this way or even know about it? Is the lost something (I'm not telling) really that important to the family anymore? SPOILER: Of course it's found, and then for the young family member to say, yes I've heard of it and blah, blah, blah. Give me a break! I don't believe it one bit. By the second or third generation all family history is lost and forgotten.

This was one of the worst children's books I've read,and I feel terrible saying that and for this really negative review, but Facts Matter! This could had been such a nice story had it been done properly.

[Cody Straley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost Cadet has little name recognition, being that it was a cheap paperback children’s novel written in the 1990s. I read this book back in elementary school, when I found an old, autographed copy in a used bookstore. It holds a lot of nostalgia for me, and I’ve always felt a personal connection to the main protagonist, Benjy.
Ghost Cadet has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it is a charming and simple story about a lonely, bullied boy -starved for attention- who befriends the ghost of a VMI cadet on the old Civil War battlefield at New Market. It has some important morals regarding friendship, loyalty, and growing up.
On the other hand, this story is exceedingly pro-Southern. Benjy’s new best ghost friend happens to be a Confederate soldier who died attempting to defend the town from “Yankee aggressors.” The Confederacy is portrayed very sympathetically in the book, often depicted as the victims of looting and pillaging on the part of the Union army. Benjy’s grandmother happens to be an author who writes Lost Cause-based history books about the Civil War. In one chapter, Benjy learns with pride that one of his ancestors was a Confederate officer. The issue of slavery, I must note, is also never brought up.
For those without an emotional attachment to the book like me, Ghost Cadet is a largely forgettable story. It has a delightful story about the joys of friendship, but the book’s pro-Confederate, Lost Cause stance makes it uncomfortably dated for a modern audience.

[Byron Wessell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know what grade I read this book in, it was before I moved so fourth grade tops. I remember really enjoying the book as a young kid, not gonna say if the writing was great or if it did a sensitive time period justice and respect, but I know when you become an avid and lover of reading you can see past that, when necessary for valid reasons. Like the time period it was written, if it’s portraying a time period, if it’s a little lazy because it’s a book for a young elementary student. Anyways, decades later. I know this book subconsciously helped turn me into an avid and lover of reading. I remember truly living the story as a I read it. I was so engrossed. A movie played in my head. I read a lot of those apple paperbacks and this one stands out above all else. I’m afraid to re-read it because it might lose some of its nostalgia and I’m here to see how others viewed it. And positing my thoughts first.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I’d read it as a kid or had some type of nostalgia attached to it.

I think this type of literature is important. I didn’t think it was overly pro-southern, but that it illustrates well how there are good and bad people and good and bad motivations on both sides of every war. Some people on the south weren’t fighting for slavery they were just fighting for their families.

For any readers who were concerned about the fact that it doesn’t touch on the atrocities committed by the south or slave abolition efforts, there are other books that do that really well and can be read in conjunction with this book.

[Melissa Orton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it was a civil war book that didn’t deal with slavery (some people think that is a downside). As we read this book as a family we were able to talk about different aspects of the war and the different reasons people fought (even if our family didn’t agree with them). It lead to a conversation about the complexities of other wars. A major theme is that you can overcome fears and weaknesses to become a stronger person.

[Robbi C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting enough story, though there were pieces of the plot that felt unbelievable to me. Mostly, though, it just felt a bit icky with the entire viewpoint of the Civil War being from an old Southern perspective. I understand that the character, Miss Leotta, would have felt that way but it did not make it any less cringe-worthy.
My kiddo wanted me to read this because she was reading it at school. We will definitely grab some books about the Civil War to read after she finishes this book.

[Charissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one and appreciated the alternate perspective it offered in terms of the Civil War. It serves as a great illustration of how very little in this world is either ALL good or ALL bad.

[Thomas Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good children's novel about friendship and loyalty, despite the rather problematic Lost Cause bias (which, as long as you address it, I don't feel is a huge problem and may present an opportunity to teach a younger reader about Civil War historiography).

[Bethany Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my absolute favorite kid historical fiction books. The friendship and how Benjy becomes better acquainted with his estranged grandmother is very heart warming. Also I think I grew a crush on Hugh. Definitely something I will enjoy over and over again.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Childhood book I liked

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

xoxo not so like me /////cool//////

[Autumn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing of this book was so bad and the characters sucked

[Alex Stoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read aloud to kiddos.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book CRUSHED my soul. I cried my heart out at the school library in 7th grade after reading this, and I ended up never returning the book to the library - to this day, I have it.

[Sarah Bierle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book to be familiar with the fiction that's been written about the Battle of New Market.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture soldiers marching in with large guns or in this case, muskets. Would you want to be there? What would you do? How will you try to survive? Well at least, you have nothing keeping you there. Benji who is the main character in the historical fiction book, Ghost Cadet, was lead into a repetition of the battle of New Market searching for a friend. Benji comes to his conclusion by deciding to help his friend Hugh and make a ghostly friend.
Hugh is a soldier who died. Hugh is “friends”(i put friends in quotation marks because it is a fake friend and most people don’t call fake friends/imaginary friends or ghost friends real friends. People don’t refer to them as a real friend of someone they know or of themselves) with Benji. Hugh haunts a battlefield in search of a gold watch that he lost when he lost his life. He leads Benji into the repetition of this battle hoping to rediscover the watch he lost. Will they succeed?
As they enter the battlefield, Hugh leaves to find his watch but also leaves Benji to find that all the modern things vanished. Soon the grass sways and ghost soldiers come marching in from all directions with big large guns and muskets. Guns are fired and soon after that, Hugh gets shot and killed “again”. In shock, while watching his ghost friend die, will he find the missing watch Hugh was missing? Hugh went to Virginia Military Institute, VMI for college a long time back. During this battle, Hugh lost his family's pride, a very old watch. Now, will Benji rediscover the watch and make a new friend/a new imaginary ghost friend? Most importantly, will he be able to get it restored Hugh’s family in enough time for Hugh to join his ghostly regiment in the parade?

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that the book does an amazing job at describing what happens in the battle of New Market. I think what makes the book good is that they start off 2 years before the war, and it shows how the war is coming to a start, because the south does not really like what the north is doing, and the north doesn't like what the south is doing. I also like how Elaine Marie Alphin shows us the mind of the character through the story and how he is getting himself prepared for this war. I would recommend this book to people who like war stories, such as The Hunger Games. The plot of my story is at New Market Virginia. The plot is a boy named Benjy who doesn't want to go to his grandma's house because she has never cared for them and he doesn't want to go to the south where the war is taking place. Benjy and his sister arrive at New Market where his grandmother is anxiously waiting for them to bring them home. Benjy decides he should start looking at colleges in Virginia so that he could get into a better relationship with his grandmother. He finally applies to VMI and he hears back 2 weeks later and he got in. Benjy decides he wants to take a risk and go to VMI. His grandmother dropped him off on his first day of college. That day they had 10 drills to practice for war. The war has finally arrived 3 days after he arrives at VMI and they are asked by Robert E Lee to march 80 miles to New Market to hold off the North. Benjy is feeling very scared but he knows he can make it out alive. In the middle of the battle Benjy gets shot in the arm and later the leg and has to be rushed back to VMI for care. They arrive at VMI and his grandmother and sister are waiting for him to arrive. By the time they get Benjy to VMI it is too late and he has passed away being the first person to die from VMI out of two later on down the road.

[Daniel Chavez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy named Benjy was trilled to find Spring Break was just at his grasp, in Virginia. Lots of school for a 12 year old but with this break, he had no intention to spend it with his grandmother. Turns out his mother didn't tell him that and with his sister. Turns out it was much more than spending his time with his grandmother. Much more than a human can imagine, a ghost with a desire!
******Spoiler Alert*********
A 12 year old boy named Benjy and his sister, visit his grandmother that they never visited. In Virginia at his grandmother's house. Instead of having a normal visit with not many enjoyable things to do, he finds this ghost from the military that's been dead for over 200 years! The ghost explains how his long lost treasures for his family were lost somewhere. Benjy with nothing else to do he accepted the request.
This book is person vs. self because he has to face the fact that, he is just a ghost. Also with the fear, and over coming that over helping someone made some very difficult tasks. According to the tasks not all the time's was he smiling to do the task, with the fact that he had to sneak into places for discovering long lost gold watch. With many hard tasks comes much learning about the War of the New Market in the ghosts point of view.
I liked the book and learning about the New Market war in 1864. Based on the interesting world of 1864, not all things were charming to read. In fact the ghost was in the military at a very young age, not much different to Benjy. With the ghost dying a very young age his needs and wants were not complete. Therefore comparing the life of the 2 young boys.
I would rate the Ghost Cadet a 4. I would rate this a 4 because as so much of back then was involved, not all made you want to read more at times. I would recommend this book to reads who love history about wars but, still enjoy the everyday humor of a kid. This book is a totally fake but, imaginary story that makes you think twice what's real and what's not!

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a typical 5th grade chapter book. It is a book on grade level, that several of my students have read. I enjoyed reading this book. It was about the civil war, but spoke about it in a fun way that sort of hid the content within the summary of the book. The book began by explaining the way the family was, there was a little boy and his older sister who used to get along but now that she was older they just fought all of the time. I think a lot of students could initially relate to this book, and if not exactly they could atleast relate to getting older and fighting with their peers. Anyway it moves on to become a ghost story of sorts. He meets a "ghost cadet" who was from the time of the civil war, and this ghost explains what happened while he was alive. It was interesting and a book I feel many of my students would enjoy if they hadn't read it already.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read by Elaine Alphin that involves a young boy, a ghost, and a mystery to solve from the civil war. Why would an author write two such similar stories? This was her first book. Young Benjy is more amenable to being involved in solving a problem for a ghost than the subject of the other Alphin novel. Benjy needs a friend and is ready at this time in his life to reach out and do things that require effort and bravery. The second book covers more historical information about an actual civil war battle that took place but this book portrays well the feeling of loosing someone to death during war times. Both books are a good introduction for a young reader to historical events that can act as a springboard to a life long love of history.

[Andi Masdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still one of my favorite books from my youth. Ms. Alphin does a fabulous job of tying historical fact in with fiction to make her story feel real. She brought the Civil War and Battle of New Market to life on the pages. Her characters, young Benjamin and the title character (the ghost cadet McDowell) are very tangible - you sense, as you're reading, that you're right there with them searching frantically for the prized pocket watch that has kept the ghost bound to roaming the earth. Her story line is thorough and well-paced, you don't feel like the resolve is rushed so you're left with a satisfactory sense of closure... yet you want more from Elaine Marie Alphin!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful historical fiction story for fourth or fifth graders. It is about a young boy named Benjy who visits his grandmother in Virginia. He meets the ghost of a Virginia Military Institute cadet who was killed in the Battle of New Market in 1864 and helps him recover his family's treasured gold watch.

Activity- Field trip to New Market Battlefield where you can see the name of the fallen cadet that the story was written about.
Readers Theatre for one of the last chapters in the book where the setting is VMI and they are calling roll accounting for all of the soldiers.