Ghosted Read online

  I wink at her and she winks back. And then I set down my drink and head back to the dance floor. I know I’ve still got a lot of work to do.

  For now, though, I’m going to keep on dancing.

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this novel possible, and special thanks to my beta readers, who made it a lot better: Dinah Yorkin, Georgia Gray, Marly Moore, Molly Shayne, Leo Margolis, and Lucy Margolis. Thanks, also, to Jim Margolis, Bhargavi Sylbert, Katherine Cortas, Laura Langlie, and the fabulous people at FSG, including Janine O’Malley, Melissa Warten, Heather Job, and Mary Van Akin.

  ALSO BY LESLIE MARGOLIS

  We Are Party People

  If I Were You

  THE ANNABELLE UNLEASHED SERIES:

  Boy Are Dogs

  Girls Acting Catty

  Everybody Bugs Out

  One Tough Chick

  Monkey Business

  THE MAGGIE BROOKLYN MYSTERIES:

  Girl’s Best Friend

  Vanishing Acts

  Secrets at the Chocolate Mansion

  About the Author

  LESLIE MARGOLIS is the author of more than fifty books for young readers, including two Annabelle Stevens books: Boys Are Dogs and Girls Acting Catty. She lives with her family in Park Slope, Brooklyn–which is also the setting of her new series, the Maggie Brooklyn Mysteries. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Leslie Margolis

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

  An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

  Text copyright © 2018 by Leslie Margolis

  All rights reserved

  First hardcover edition, 2018

  eBook edition, October 2018

  mackids.com

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Margolis, Leslie, author.

  Title: Ghosted / Leslie Margolis.

  Description: First edition. | New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018. | Summary: After hitting her head, Ellie Charles, thirteen, encounters a mysterious girl who takes her to moments in her past that explain how she became a manipulative, unhappy person in a story reminiscent of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017046445 | ISBN 9780374307561 (hardcover)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Conduct of life—Fiction. | Middle schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Family problems—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.M33568 Gho 2018 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017046445

  Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at [email protected].

  eISBN 9780374307639