The Green Ghost of Appleville

39 Kids on the Block #1

by Jean Marzollo, Irene Trivas (Illustrator)

Fizz Eddie has already seen the much-talked-about Green Ghost, said to inhabit the eerie farmhouse on the block, and the rest of the kids fearfully question the spirit's existence.

Genres: Childrens

92 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

Jean Marzollo was an American children's author and illustrator best known for the I Spy series, a best-selling and award-winning collection written entirely in rhythm and rhyme and illustrated by Walter Wick. Over her career, she wrote more than 100 books for children, parents, and educators, including Help Me Learn Numbers 0-20, The Little Plant Doctor, and Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. Born and raised in Connecticut, she graduated from the University of Connecticut and earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She taught high school English and later worked in educational publishing, serving for 20 years as editor of Scholastic’s Let’s Find Out Magazine. Later in life, she began illustrating her own books.

Reviews

[Josiah]

Jean Marzollo is known best for the I Spy "picture riddle" books, but she wrote many easy readers and chapter books. In 1989 she launched her 39 Kids on the Block series with The Green Ghost of Appleville. Dozens of kids live in proximity to best friends Mary Kate Adams and Jane Fox, ranging from toddlers to students in junior high. They all get along pretty well, and this October Mary Kate and Jane are looking forward to Halloween in their neighborhood. What could be more fun than trick-or-treating along Baldwin and Cortland Streets dressed as a clown (Mary Kate) and a ballerina (Jane)? But the girls have second thoughts when Fizz Eddie, Jane's older brother, informs them that the local legend of the Green Ghost is real. He says he saw it last Halloween in the farmhouse next to the Appleville Apartments where he, Jane, and Mary Kate live. The girls don't want to believe in the ghost, but if a big kid like Fizz Eddie is scared, mustn't it be true? Trick-or-treating in the dark on Halloween suddenly isn't an appealing concept.

Most kids in Mary Kate and Jane's class at school think ghosts exist. Michael Finn is the lone dissenter, a know-it-all who says phantoms are just special effects of the entertainment industry. The class's kindly, thoughtful teacher, Mr. Carson, moderates some spirited discussion on the topic, but it's placed on hold when the principal escorts a new kid into the room. Rusty Morelli, a redhead with freckles, recently moved into the farmhouse with his grandmother. The haunted farmhouse. How can they live there with the Green Ghost stalking its halls? Rusty gets upset when his classmates tell him about the ghost—he's a direct descendant of Mr. Green, whose spirit is said to inhabit the house—but Mary Kate tries to take his mind off his troubles. Rusty is nice, and she'll gladly be his friend...but what should she do when he invites her to his house? Mary Kate is terrified at the prospect of meeting the Green Ghost.

Rusty's parents are spending a year in Brazil doing arboreal research, but his grandmother, Mrs. Morelli, is full of spunk and humor. She's sympathetic to Mary Kate's trepidation about entering the farmhouse, but counters it by suggesting they all decorate the place as a pretend haunted house for kids to go through on October 31. Mary Kate loves brainstorming ghoulish ideas, and after investing a lot of time setting up the haunted house with Rusty and Mrs. Morelli, she's excited for the big day...or would be, if Fizz Eddie weren't around to remind her that he saw the Green Ghost in this same house last year. Mr. Carson issues a class assignment for the kids to investigate if ghosts are real, and he pairs Mary Kate and Rusty as partners. Neither wants to discover that the Green Ghost is a genuine resident of the Morelli farmhouse, but Mary Kate, Jane, Rusty, and even Mary Kate's three-year-old brother Joey have fun at the haunted house all Halloween evening. The Green Ghost hasn't shown up yet; have Mary Kate and Rusty proven that ghosts are a myth? Or is the night's big scare waiting just...around...the corner?

Irene Trivas's illustrations are as delightful as Jean Marzollo's simple, affectionate story. Mary Kate and the kids her age are believably frightened of the ghost; at times they feel sure it's fake, but then some incident will shake their conviction. Mrs. Morelli has a good way to settle their fears: by putting the kids to work engineering a haunted house, they see for themselves how scares are created using costumes and special effects. Shedding light on the hidden aspects of one's fear usually reduces its potency. I liked The Green Ghost of Appleville, and I'm glad there are five more books in the series. I want to read them all.

[Becky]

A very nice book...I look forward to reading more in the series c:

[Carol Clifford]

Loved how real the characters felt, you know as soon as you read the first chapter that the people in the book were in your childhood. Fizz Eddie, a boy like fizz Eddie is always in your lifetime. His role just changes throughout the years. Great book for beginners going into chapter reads.