Review: A Certain Slant of Light

Laura Whitcomb
Paperback, 288 pages
 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference
September 21, 2005

  "I couldn't take my eyes off him. Like a desert wanderer afraid of mirages, I gazed at my oasis, but he was real."

 Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you're dead. Though I could not feel paper between my fingers, smell ink, or taste the tip of a pencil, I could see and hear the world with all the clarity of the Living. They, on the other hand, did not see me as a shadow or a floating vapor. To the Quick, I was empty air.Or so I thought. In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: For the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen–terrified, but intrigued–is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to
possess. (Borders.com)

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First of all let me say, I love this book!!! A Certain Slant of Light was very different then what I had expected. Laura Whitcomb did a wonderful job with this novel. Her way of writing was very soft. She had a way of making the whole book like a dream. I found myself lost in the story and not pulled back to reality until I was finished.

Helen is a fantastic character. She is a ghost and she has been stuck on earth for 130 years. She doesn't know why she didn't move on after death, So only believes she did something terrible when she was alive. Helen must stay with her human host or be pulled in to the evil that is waiting for her when she is alone. I really love the fact that Helen is such a sweet character, she is trying to figure out why this boy in her hosts class can see her and has to struggle with the dilemma of going to him or staying with her host Mr. Brown.

As the story continues Helen grows in to her own. she becomes more assertive and really tries to make this new life the best for her. James is one of those characters that you really can't, not like. He is sweet, caring and a gentlemen. He knows what Helen is and knows that he has to be in her life. There love blossoms very quickly and I really like that. They know what they want and are not afraid to show it.

Without ruining the book for you guys....Even though I really want to, I have to say that this was unlike other YA books out there. It is a very good and powerful story of love and lose and the struggle to live. I recommend you read this...very soon. I give A Certain Slant of Light 4+ Hoots.