Give Up The Ghost by Megan Crewe

From the back:
Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts to “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable. They know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her help contacting his recently deceased mother, but Cass is less than enthusiastic.
Kicking and screaming, Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life. And she’s more surprised than anyone when she realizes that maybe some living people aren’t so bad if she’d only give them a chance...

Give up the Ghost is a paranormal YA novel and it has a new, fresh twist on the ghosts. Every ghost in the book has a scent that’s totally unique to them. For example, Paige smells like candied apples and cinnamon. I haven’t seen the ghost scents before in any novel before, and I like how Crewe associates a smell with a character.

The best thing about the book is the characters inside of it. Cass, rather than hate what she is able to do, turns her power of seeing ghosts into something good. She's essentally the Robin Hood of gossip at her school. Tim, the VP of the student council, is just in so much pain that it makes my heart ache. Then we have the ghosts. They add a fantastic element to the story that makes it feel fun and serious at the approriate times but don't detract from the flow of the story.

One thing I wasn’t happy with in this book was Tim and Cass’s relationship. I had hoped it would go in a different direction, but the way Crewe has it makes the story more compelling and a better read overall.

Also, the ending seemed very typical to me. While it does have a great last line, the entire last page feels like I’ve seen some version of it some times before.

I give this book 8/10 stars. This is definitely a great read and worth the money. GIVE UP THE GHOST will be available on September 15th, 2009.