While staying with her grandmother in Gran's childhood home, Liz wakes one night when she hears her name--and sees a mysterious blue light that coalesces into the image of a woman in old-fashioned dress. Perhaps it's a dream, but then there are the faint voices that seem to come from the walls, which Liz can step through to go back in time. On the other side of the walls, she meets a family of children, including Elizabeth, who calls Liz guardian angel. It's a puzzle, until Liz is summoned through the wall one night, and finds the children in need of help. This gentle ghost story, written in simple prose, blends mild suspense with a look at how the past connects to and influences the present. Mystery fans will enjoy the spooky premise, and Wang's softly rendered black-and-white drawings increase the ghostly atmosphere.

Liz helps her grandmother clean out a house that has been in the family for generations. During her visit she meets ghosts and is able, by traveling into the past, to help an ancestor. The story, which touches on the value of reading, has just enough suspense and mystery for the young reader moving into chapter books.

Liz is trying to help her grandmother prepare the family's old log house for sale. She's her grandmother's guardian angel as she helps with the packing and reminiscing. Though Liz is sad to part with the home, her sadness turns to fear when strange things start happening. First, it's the girl in the blue dress, then it's the talking and singing behind the wall and then, one afternoon after a nap, Liz walks through the wall and joins the voices. She becomes a guardian angel to her great-great grandmother, young Elizabeth. Poor Elizabeth is trying to care for her brothers, including the desperately ill Matthew. By being in the right place at the right time with the right remedy, Liz is able to save her namesake and ensure her own future. With easy-to-follow twists and turns, Bauer spins a spooky time-travel story for the youngest readers that will keep them interested without giving them nightmares of their own. A welcome addition to the venerable Stepping Stone series. (Fiction. 7-9)

Gr 2-4-Nine-year-old Liz is helping her grandmother prepare to sell the old family cabin. She is awakened at night by a strange blue light and a voice calling her name. In the corner of her room, a ghostly woman dressed in old-fashioned clothes beckons to her and then disappears through the wall. Later, Liz hears voices and a baby's cry coming from behind the spot where the blue ghost vanished. She follows the sound and finds herself in the same cabin but long ago when it was first built. There, three little boys and a tiny baby are all in the care of a girl not much older than Liz herself. When the girl calls her a "guardian angel," Liz knows that she has been summoned to the past because the children and the blue ghost need her help. This skillfully written short chapter book moves smoothly between the present and past. There is a strong emphasis on family heritage and intergenerational relations. Gran's stories about their family history provide the clues that Liz needs to answer the ghost's plea. Expressive black-and-white pictures heighten the suspense. Transition readers attracted by the wonderfully spooky cover art will find this a satisfying read.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.