title: On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave
author:  Candace Fleming 
description: Gr 6-9-On a foggy Chicago night, Mike Kowalski finds himself in a forgotten graveyard dedicated to teenagers whose lives were cut short. Thinking he's going to die, he soon learns that the ghostly specters closing in on him only want to tell him how they met their demises. So begins this collection of stories, each ghost stepping up to relay his or her journey from life to death. According to the author's notes, some of the stories are loosely based on old tales, like W. W. Jacobs's "The Monkey's Paw," while others are original creations. Some are realistic and tragic, while others are steeped in fantasy and colorful embellishment. Fleming's writing style is effective as she switches from character to character, volleying from the 1800s to the present, giving each ghost its own unique voice in its own historically accurate setting. However, the execution is unsuccessful. As Mike listens to each story, he is utterly uninvolved. Each one ends repetitively with the next ghost stepping up basically saying, "You think that's bad; Just listen to my story!" trying to top the previous tale. This gets monotonous, and since Mike is so passive, readers begin to lose focus about the point of the stories. The book ends with Mike driving home late at night, having supposedly learned a big life lesson. The problem is, knowing virtually nothing about him, who's to say he needed to learn a lesson anyway? This collection feels empty; it's unfortunate that some of the more interesting tales, like Evelyn's story of living in her twin's shadow during the time of the Chicago World's Fair, weren't more fully fleshed out, with some substance and depth.-Lauren Newman, Northern Burlington County Regional Middle School, Columbus, NJ(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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  CANDACE KNOEBEL
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real
  people-living or dead, real locales is entirely coincidental and used
  fictitiously. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events
  or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are
  created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
  
  
  
  
  
  Love in the Headlines. Copyright © 2020 by [Candace
  Knoebel](http://www.candaceknoebel.com/)
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
  any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer
  who may quote brief passages for review purposes. If you are reading this book
  and you have not purchased it or won it in an author/publisher contest, this
  book has been pirated. Pl