This book is at least twenty years old but still reads well. The parents are mostly absent but they are always there for family meals. The father has a long commute to the university and ends up going out of town for three weeks. The stepmother is an artist who uses one of the rooms as her studio. It's obvious the parents care for all of the children and that Amanda is acting out. She's unhappy that she needs to go to a new school, has a new family, is living in a new house and that her biological father is too busy for her.

Usually the parental figures in young adult books are nonexistent or swept aside so it was a pleasant surprise to have two of them make several appearances throughout the book. David is close to his father and really likes having Molly as a parent though it took a while for him to get used to the idea. I think the book realistically deals with a child's feelings about remarriage.

The "occult" Amanda studies is really a bunch of hocus pocus. It's an interesting contrast to Blair, the cherubic twin, who can talk to animals and ghosts but doesn't say much to people. This was an enjoyable and fast read.

The Stanley family and Amanda have also been featured in The Famous Stanley Kidnapping Case, Blair's Nightmare and Janie's Private Eyes if you want to read about more of their adventures. ( )

A wonderful book about family, siblings, new marriages and families, a spooky old house and a frightening mystery. The children are marvelously portrayed with depth of emotion and are very easy to relate to. Despite being 30 years old, there is nothing in the book that would keep it from feeling relevant to children today. ( )

David's dad has just married Amanda's mother, and she's moving into a big old house with him and his three younger siblings. She has decided to train them in "the occult," which she has decided she's an expert in (she's not). She fakes a poltergeist, but the mystery is solved by David with help from his (actually psychic) little brother, Blair. Amanda decides to give up the occult and be part of the family. ( )

This was such an important book for me when I was a child hanging out in the library waiting for my mom to get off from work. The very idea of a headless cupid terrified me and yet I adored this book. I craved to crawl inside it.