When I was a kid (about 45 years or so ago), I read a book about a boy who goes to live in a house and discovers that a ghost of a boy about his age haunts his bedroom. He finds the pocketknife the ghost had when he was alive, and finds — if I remember correctly — the dead boy's name carved into the bedframe. The book then becomes a mystery as the boy tries to find out how the dead boy died. Maybe he was murdered? Or fell into a river? Whatever happened, the boy's ghost can't rest until the truth is known.
I'm sorry this isn't much to go on, but that's all I can remember. For some reason, the book has stayed with me for 4 decades. It wasn't Hardy Boys. Maybe it was a Scholastic book?
by PolarWeasel
8 Comments
chatgpt:
Given that timeframe, the book was likely published in the late 1970s or early 1980s. A strong possibility is *The Ghost Belonged to Me* (1975) by Richard Peck. It follows a boy named Alexander who encounters the ghost of a young girl, but some details don’t quite match your description.
Another option is *The House with a Clock in Its Walls* (1973) by John Bellairs, though its ghost elements aren’t the main mystery. or possibly *Wait Till Helen Comes* by Mary Downing Hahn, though the latter has a female ghost. Another possibility is *The Doll in the Garden* by Mary Downing Hahn, which also involves a boy and a mystery surrounding a ghost.
A Time For Andrew maybe? Though I can’t remember if that one had a relevant knife …
r/whatsthatbook might be able to help.
Possibly the book you are looking for
The ghost’s grave by Peg Kehret.
I feel like I have read this as well!
Based on your recollection, the book you’re describing might be “Ghost Cadet” by Elaine Marie Alphin. In this story, a boy named Benjy spends the summer at his grandmother’s old Virginia home, where he encounters the ghost of a young Civil War cadet. Together, they embark on a quest to find a family watch that the ghost is seeking.
GOODREADS
Another possibility is “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman, which follows a young boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard after his family is murdered. The boy, named Bod, encounters various supernatural beings and uncovers mysteries about his past.
Another possibility
“This might not be it, but Eva Ibbotson wrote many books about ghosts. In The Great Ghost Rescue, Humphrey the ghost makes friends with Rick, a human.”
Reminds me of “something upstairs.”
The ghost boy was a slave and they looked into his death.