THE BOGGART by Susan Cooper, 1993

When Emily and Jess Volnik's family inherits a remote, crumbling Scottish castle, they also inherit the Boggart -- an invisible, mischievous spirit who's been playing tricks on residents of Castle Keep for generations. Then the Boggart is trapped in a rolltop desk and inadvertently shipped to the Volniks' home in Toronto, where nothing will ever be the same -- for the Volniks or the Boggart. In a world that doesn't believe in magic, the Boggart's pranks wreak havoc. And even the newfound joys of peanut butter and pizza and fudge sauce eventually wear thin for the Boggart. He wants to go home -- but his only hope lies in a risky and daring blend of modern technology and ancient magic. (Goodreads)

Review by Emily, basically a bibliophile

Oh, THE BOGGART. The Boggart is a mischievous little spirit who likes to play tricks on people. When the master of Castle Keep, the MacDevon, dies, some very distant relatives of his inherit the castle and its inhabitant. Of course, they don't know about the tricksy little creature at first. No, the Volniks only know about the castle. The trouble that comes after is only because they don't know about the Boggart and his ways.

  

You see, he falls asleep in one of the only things they take back home from the castle: a rolltop desk. And when he wakes up, he's in Canada, very, very far from the only home he's ever known.

  

 Confused, but willing to play tricks on his new people, the Boggart causes endless trouble as he encounters TV, ice cream, traffic lights, cars, hockey, and computers. But when at last it is time for the Boggart to go home, he will surely be missed by the Volnik family. He is an endearing, though troublesome, apparition, and one that does not like to be forgotten.

  

One of my favorite scenes is when the Boggart follows one of the Volnik children to the theater where their father works. Of course he has no idea that they are only involved in a play, and when a Scottish lord dies, he remembers another such occurence, and playing with the lights, causes everyone in the theater to be in awe of the amazing effects that he creates with the lighting and sound boards. Poor Boggart, he misses the MacDevon, who enjoyed the invisible trickster's company for all the years that he lived in Castle Keep.

  

It is a story about loss, but the Boggart's lightheartedness about everything makes it a deeply enjoyable story for anyone to read.

Market: Middle Grade Fantasy

Language: None

Sensuality: None

Violence: None

Mature Themes: Loss, abandonment