Excerpt:
I was awakened at 1:11 a.m. by a strange sound. At first I thought it might be one of the dogs but as I listened more closely, I realized it wasn't. It sounded odd. Within seconds, I was fully awake. I lay motionless concentrating on what it was. The more I listened, the louder it became. It was coming from the attic, directly above my bed. I began to shake. I wanted to jump out of my bed and run as fast as I could to Daryl and Sheila's room screaming at the top of my lungs. But I was too scared to move. I pulled the covers over my head so that only my face was exposed. Although I had heard the sound before, I still couldn't figure out what it was. Then I realized; it was a rocking chair. Oh no! It was Mary O'Hanlan rocking in her chair. I was breathing heavily. My bottom lip quivered as I tried to call out Sheila's name. I didn't want to yell too loudly for fear Mary would appear in my room. Instead I whispered hoping she would hear me. 'Sheila? Sheila?' I waited but nobody came. The sound continued. Creek, creek, back and forth, creek, creek, back and forth. Norma was right: Mary O'Hanlan was in the attic. I guess she rocks at night when she thinks everyone is asleep. Oh, how I wished someone would come into my room and rescue me! Then suddenly, the rocking stopped. There was nothing. No more sound. Maybe Mary heard me whisper Sheila's name and she was coming to my room. But I didn't hear footsteps. Then again, if she were a ghost she'd float through the air. I focused on my doorknob waiting for it to turn. The light from my clock reflected off the door but it was too difficult to see the doorknob. I kept looking at the door, waiting. I've watched scary movies before where the doorknob slowly turns as someone enters the room. I looked at my clock. It was 1:31 a.m. Twenty minutes had passed already. Nothing was happening. No more sound coming from the attic, no doorknob turning and no Sheila coming to my rescue. There was no way I could go back to sleep. I decided I would wait. I'd lie in my bed and wait to see what did or didn't happen. The last time I remember the clock reading was 4:17 a.m. As hard as I tried to remain awake, I fell asleep. I was amazed I had been able to after the scariest night of my life.

Synopsis
Recommended for ages 10-16
12 year-old Christina (Tissy) Matthews spends four weeks of her summer vacation with her mother's relatives at their newly purchased house in the country. When she arrives she meets Norma, the young girl who lives across the road. Norma tells Tissy about the ghost of Mary O'Hanlan that haunts her cousin's house. As the ghost becomes more and more apparent to Tissy, she and Norma decide to investigate why the ghost is not at rest and to help her. They hold a séance and discover that the ghost of Mary O'Hanlan wants to know the truth about what happened to her father who disappeared without a trace 95 years earlier. The townspeople had started a rumour that Mary's mother murdered her father and buried him on the property and Mary and her mother became life-long outcasts in the community. Tissy and Norma enlist the aid of local reporter, Wade Hemming, and together they discover the truth behind the mystery.