The Ghost in the Machine

Marie Huss is a retired teacher and language arts consultant in Sudbury,
Ontario.

For Tyler Graham, who lives with his family in Kootenay Valley, things
aren’t going especially well. His father always seems to be away, his
mother is depressed, and his grandfather is mean. Tyler is about to turn
16. What he dreams of is learning how to drive and owning his own car.

One night while walking around the family homestead, Tyler discovers
his dead uncle’s battered old Volkswagen car—and a ghost is sitting
in it. The ghost tells Tyler to “fix it,” but Tyler is no mechanic
and doesn’t know how. With persistence, however, Tyler discovers that
he has mechanical abilities. During the process of working on the car,
Tyler gains confidence in his abilities and himself, his peers begin to
admire him at school, and his family members begin communicating with
each other—hence, Tyler gets fixed, his family gets fixed, and the car
gets fixed.

Mary Woodbury has written an enjoyable story, set in a beautiful area
of British Columbia. As Tyler grows in confidence and stature, he gains
a girlfriend and fends off a bully—two additional elements of the
story that will appeal to young-adult readers. Recommended.