The Ghost Sonata (Gilda Joyce)

When her best friend, Wendy Choy, qualifies to compete in an international piano competition in Oxford, England, irrepressible Gilda Joyce finds a way to get an invitation herself—as a page-turner. Wendy settles into an exhausting practice schedule, made worse by strange nightmares, while Gilda finds herself falling in love with a British boy. But when Wendy discovers a ghostly message written in the frost on her window, Gilda realizes her friend’s life could be in danger, and the key to solving the mystery may be in learning the truth behind the untimely death of a previous piano virtuoso.

(I listened to this through Audible Audiobooks.)

First off, I'm very glad that audible kept the same reader for this book as for the previous one in the series. I really do wish that Audible would release them all on audio, as the reader does an excellent job and somehow manages to perfectly capture the tone and cadence of a junior-high student -- not to mention all the accents and quirks of speech for the other characters, many of whom are from countries like India, Russia, China, and Scotland. Much applause for reader Jessica Almasy!

As for the story itself, I'm afraid that I didn't enjoy this installment of the series nearly as much as I'd enjoyed The Ladies of the Lake. In this book, Gilda's friend Wendy is invited to participate in show more an international piano competition in Oxford, England... and of course, Gilda manages to finagle her way into joining Wendy at the competition as her official "page turner". Once they arrive, Wendy starts hearing and seeing some strange things, and it seems like she's being haunted by a local ghost. Naturally, this is Gilda's area of expertise, and she gets right to work.

That said, there's a different feel to this book than the previous one I'd read, in that this book actually requires you to suspend disbelief and accept that there has been, without question, supernatural influence. In other words (and I'm trying to make this as un-spoilery as possible), there really is a ghost (but you already knew that from the third chapter or so), as opposed to The Ladies of the Lake (though I wonder about the other books in this series?), where there's a perfectly logical explanation for everything.

I like a good ghost story as much as the next person, but part of this series' charm for me was Gilda's unwavering belief in ghosts and her psychic abilities... even though the reader knows that it's not exactly real, and gets to see everything play out with logic and reasoning. show less

When ninth-grader Gilda travels to an international piano competition in Oxford, England, as page turner for her friend Wendy Choy, she finds adventure investigating why Wendy is being haunted and who is frightening the performers, while enjoying a romance with a British boy and her first kiss.

When ninth-grader Gilda travels to an international piano competition in Oxford, England, as page turner for her friend Wendy Choy, she finds adventure investigating why Wendy is being haunted and who is frightening the performers, while enjoying a romance with a British boy and her first kiss.

Another great volume in the Gilda Joyce series! The Ghost Sonata follows Gilda and her best friend, Wendy Choy's antics at a piano competition in Oxford, England. As usual Gilda is up to her usual tricks with her fashion forward wardrobe and acerbic wit. Although the story had plenty of humor it was the creepiest of the Gilda books I've read so far. If you haven't checked out this series yet don't delay any longer!

Gilda and her friend, Wendy, are off on another adventure. This time they are going to England where Wendy is in an International Piano Competition. Mysterious tarot cards begin appearing among the competitors. Gilda and Wendy start seeing ghosts and Wendy hears strange music playing. The girls begin investigating and find a lost piece of music that was written by a young composer but never was performed because he was killed. Wendy decides she must play the composition for the competition. Gilda meets one of the competitors and falls in love with her first kiss. Girls would probably like this book better than boys. Gilda is always funny and fun-loving.

When Gilda's best afriend Wendy is chosen to go to England for a piano competition, Gilda decides she has to go. She gets an all expenses paid trip as Wendy's page turner. Once there strange things begin to happen. Taro cards are beggining to show up around the competitors. If that isn't enough Wendy is having difficulty sleeping and she keeps hearing creepy music. In this book Gilda find her first love, Julian. She must let the practices suffer so that she can help solve this mystery. I enjoyed this book immensly We get to see Gilda's best friend Wendy in a differently light. She played a larger role in this book. She isn't as colorful as Gilda and maybe that is why they are best friends. It all balances out.