In Just 82 Pages: How "Ghost Eye" Changed Everything

Illustrative cover of "Ghost Eye" by Marion Dane Bauer, featuring a mystical white cat with enchanting eyes, drawn by Trina Schart Hyman in 1992.

For as far back as I can remember, I have always loved creating and telling stories. However, my love for reading didn't happen until I was in middle school, when I needed to do a book report and, for the first time, got to pick what to read. There on the library shelf sat a thin book, no more than 82 pages long. The cover featured a sleek white cat looking back at me with one blue eye and one gold eye, with red text above the cat's head reading "Ghost Eye."

"Ghost Eye", written by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, follows Popcorn, a white Cornish Rex show cat whose life gets thrown upside down when he is taken to a strange city where a young girl tries everything in her power to befriend him. Annoyed by her, Popcorn tries to return to his old life, only to discover he can see ghosts—and that returning is no longer an option. His previous owner, the young girl's great-aunt, has passed away. It isn't until the end that Popcorn accepts the girl's kindness after overhearing her parents discuss taking him to a shelter. The story closes with Melinda and Popcorn snuggling together as they fall asleep.

It was a story that changed how I viewed books altogether. I had never liked reading before this point because I was always forced to do it, but for the first time, I found a book that truly called to me and had me enjoying every sentence. In just 82 pages, this story captured my mind and made me care deeply for an imaginary cat and the girl determined to become his friend.

Even today, that same book sits on my shelf as a reminder of where it all began for me—where I began to appreciate the craftsmanship behind the power of words to tell a simple, wonderful story, and how much Bauer was able to accomplish with so few words:

"A unique cat, a white Cornish rex with one eye of brilliant blue and one of shining gold. His short, soft coat formed deep waves all over his sleek body. His head was chiseled to a fine wedge. His delicately veined ears were enormous. his tail was long, so long that, when sitting, he could wrap it across both front ankles and still have an inch left over to curl or twitch as he chose." (p.1).

This paragraph was the hook that had pulled me in. It established a quiet eerie twist for the story: While the gold eye sees the physical world, the striking blue eye is the one that can see the spectral presence of past lives and ghosts haunting the house. It balances a sharp eye for physical detail with an underlying sense of supernatural mystery.

Sources:

Bauer, Marion Dane, Ghost Eye. Illustrated by Tina Schart Hyman, Scholastic, 1992.

"Ghost Eye by Marion Dane Bauer." Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/book/show/966448.Ghost_Eye