Olive and the Backstage Ghost – Michelle Schusterman, Random House, (9780399550669), 2017
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 1- 5 (5 is excellent or a Starred review) 4
Genre: Horror
What did you like about the book? Olive is a young girl who longs to sing, but suffers from “mother fright” instead of stage fright. Her mother was once a major star and Olive feels she will never live up to her expectations. When an audition for theater camp goes badly, Olive runs off into the city and comes across a beautiful theater with a marquee reading Maudeville. Olive finds herself on stage singing and is immediately chosen to star in the theater’s production by a woman named Maude. Although the theater is home to several ghosts, Olive immediately feels at home among the theater troupe. Olive sometimes senses that something is off about the place and a boy named Felix hangs around outside and insists she is not seeing things as they really are. Why is Felix unable to enter the theater? Why does the food they eat sometimes leave a dusty coating in her mouth? Is this magic or is this some kind of evil? In addition to the eeriness there is an underlying sense of sadness, loss and grief in the characters that are searching for home and family. This one is sure to give readers a good scare.
Anything you didn’t like about it? The cover is a bit misleading as it downplays the horror factor.
To whom would you recommend this book? This is one for older readers who love creepy, scary ghost stories by authors such as Mary Dowling Hahn.
Who should buy this book? Public libraries and elementary school libraries
Where would you shelve it? Fiction
Should we (librarians/readers) put this at the top of our “to read” piles? Yes, if you enjoy dark ghost stories.
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Catherine Coyne, Mansfield Public Library, Mansfield, MA
Date of review: 10/23/17
Youth Services Book Review 
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