Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator (Gilda Joyce)

Ever since her father died, kooky Gilda Joyce has been working hard to sharpen her psychic skills. She's determined to communicate with spirits from the Other Side and become a crack investigator of spooky, twisted mysteries. After wrangling an invitation to visit San Francisco relatives, Gilda discovers just how much her dreary, tight-lipped uncle and his strange, delicate daughter need her help to uncover the terrible family secret that has a tortured ghost stalking their home.

From poignant to hair-raising and hilarious, this is a behind-the-scenes, tell-all account of the very first case in the illustrious career of Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator.

"Allison's debut novel introduces a spunky, appealingly eccentric 13-year-old who identifies with Harriet the Spy and may well rival her for readers' affections. Gilda's current 'career' encompasses three activities: writing novels, spying on neighbors and developing her psychic abilities. She focuses primarily on the last-mentioned pursuit when she finagles an invitation to San Francisco to visit her mother's second cousin, Lester Splinter, whom she has never met, and then discovers he has a daughter Gilda's age named Juliet. A brooding loner, Juliet lives with her aloof, divorced father in a Victorian mansion, a house that, Gilda is convinced, 'has a secret to reveal.' After learning that Juliet's aunt jumped to her death from the top of the estate's tower-and that Juliet has encountered what appears to be her aunt's ghost inside the house-Gilda is determined to communicate with the dead woman and to uncover the details surrounding the tragedy. Those who pick up the book for the mystery angle must be patient; it does not begin in earnest until roughly a third into the novel. But even more compelling is the story of the friendship that develops between Juliet and Gilda, whose alternating perspectives give readers insights ahead of the girls. And perhaps most affecting of all are Gilda's earnest attempts to commune with her much-missed father, who died of cancer two years earlier. Ages 10-up." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Although Gilda's antics are somewhat unbelievable, her joie de vivre is enough to keep readers entertained and enlivened." Children's Literature

"Gilda's earnest and wacky personality accompanied by her dry wit make this an amusing as well as suspenseful mystery. Surprisingly spooky." Kirkus Reviews

Jennifer Allison is a former high school English and creative-writing teacher who lives in Washington, D.C.