The Ghost of Avalanche Mountain

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Eleven-year-old Ashley has just received a very special birthday gift
from her Aunt Jo. It is a necklace with a goldstone pendant, that has
been passed down from generation to generation in their family.
According to Aunt Jo, the goldstone will give Ashley glimpses of the
future if she wears it while she sleeps. At first, Ashley can barely
remember anything about her dreams except that they were very strange.
Gradually the visions clarify until one day Ashley sees a handsome young
man who seems to want something from her. But the goldstone also has a
darker side. The gem was once connected to a long-ago tragedy in the
family, and Aunt Jo is beginning to wonder whether the magic jewel is a
wonderful gift or a terrible curse.

As she did in first two volumes in the Goldstone Trilogy—Goldstone
(1997) and Turns on a Dime (1998)—Lawson erects her story on the
double foundations of a goldstone necklace and a real
turn-of-the-century avalanche that claimed the lives of 58 people. This
final adventure, which occurs in the present time, is driven by such
disparate literary devices as e-mail messages and old letters found in a
trunk. Well written and historically accurate, The Ghost of Avalanche
Mountain stands very well on its own, but makes a fine conclusion to a
top-notch trilogy. Highly recommended.