A Good Night for Ghosts
Read A Good Night for Ghosts Online
Authors: Mary Pope Osborne
Here’s what kids have to say to
Mary Pope Osborne, author of
the Magic Tree House series:
WOW! You have an imagination like no other.
—Adam W.
I love your books. If you stop writing books, it will be like losing a best friend.
—Ben M.
I think you are the real Morgan le Fay. There is always magic in your books.
—Erica Y.
One day I was really bored and I didn’t want to read.… I looked in your book. I read a sentence, and it was interesting. So I read some more, until the book was done. It was so good I read more and more. Then I had read all of your books, and now I hope you write lots more.
—Danai K.
I always read [your books] over and over … 1 time, 2 times, 3 times, 4 times.…
—Yuan C.
You are my best author in the world. I love your books. I read all the time. I read everywhere. My mom is like freaking out.
—Ellen C.
I hope you make these books for all yours and mine’s life.
—Riki H.
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®
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Thank you for opening faraway places and times to my class through your books. They have given me the chance to bring in additional books, materials, and videos to share with the class.
—J. Cameron
It excites me to see how involved [my fourth-grade reading class] is in your books.… I would do anything to get my students more involved, and this has done it.
—C. Rutz
I discovered your books last year.… WOW! Our students have gone crazy over them. I can’t order enough copies! … Thanks for contributing so much to children’s literature!
—C. Kendziora
I first came across your Magic Tree House series when my son brought one home.… I have since introduced this great series to my class. They have absolutely fallen in love with these books! … My students are now asking me for more independent reading time to read them. Your stories have inspired even my most struggling readers.
—M. Payne
I love how I can go beyond the [Magic Tree House] books and use them as springboards for other learning.
—R. Gale
We have enjoyed your books all year long. We check your Web site to find new information. We pull our map down to find the areas where the adventures take place. My class always chimes in at key parts of the story. It feels good to hear my students ask for a book and cheer when a new book comes out.
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Our students have “Magic Tree House fever.” I can’t keep your books on the library shelf.
—J. Rafferty
Your books truly invite children into the pleasure of reading. Thanks for such terrific work.
—S. Smith
The children in the fourth grade even hide the [Magic Tree House] books in the library so that they will be able to find them when they are ready to check them out.
—K. Mortensen
My Magic Tree House books are never on the bookshelf because they are always being read by my students. Thank you for creating such a wonderful series.
—K. Mahoney
Y
ears ago, my husband, Will, and I lived for several weeks in the French Quarter in New Orleans while Will was performing in a play at the Saenger Theatre. During that time we fell in love with the city’s architecture, food, and especially its music. Every night after Will’s show, we sought out our favorite jazz bands. One of our best memories is visiting the New Orleans Jazz Museum and seeing the first cornet played by a young Louis Armstrong, who grew up to be one of the greatest jazz performers the world has ever known. Soon after that stay in New Orleans, we started collecting Louis Armstrong’s early recordings and began learning about his life
.
I always knew it was only a matter of time before Jack, Annie, and I would have an adventure in New Orleans with Louis Armstrong. And now I can say it was one of the best adventures we’ve ever had
.
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2009 by Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Sal Murdocca
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. Magic Tree House is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osborne, Mary Pope.
A good night for ghosts / by Mary Pope Osborne; illustrated by Sal Murdocca.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house; #42)
“A Merlin mission.”
“A Stepping Stone book.”
Summary: Jack and Annie must travel back in time to New Orleans in 1915 to help a teenaged Louis Armstrong fulfill his destiny and become the “King of Jazz.”
eISBN: 978-0-375-89464-0
[1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction.
3. Armstrong, Louis, 1901–1971—Childhood and youth—Fiction. 4. Jazz—Fiction.
5. African Americans—Fiction. 6. Brothers and sisters—Fiction.
7. New Orleans (La.)—History—20th century—Fiction.]
I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.O81167Gon2009 [Fic]—dc22 2008042061
v3.0
For Will, who always wanted
me to write this book
1. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
6. Find Me at the Greasy Spoon
More Facts from Jack and Annie
Special Preview of Magic Tree House #43: Leprechaun in Late Winter
“I was so happy I did not know what to do. I had
hit the big time. I was up North [playing] with the
greats…My boyhood dream had come true at last.”
—Louis Armstrong, from
Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans
O
ne summer day in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods. A brother and sister named Jack and Annie soon learned that the tree house was magic—it could take them to any time and any place in history. They also learned that the tree house belonged to Morgan le Fay, a magical librarian from the legendary realm of Camelot.
After Jack and Annie had traveled on many adventures for Morgan, Merlin the magician began sending them on “Merlin Missions” in the tree house. With help from two young sorcerers named Teddy and Kathleen, Jack and Annie visited four
mythical
places and found valuable objects to help save Camelot.
On their next four Merlin Missions, Jack and Annie once again traveled to
real
times and
real
places in history. After they proved to Merlin that
they knew how to use magic wisely, he awarded them the Wand of Dianthus, a powerful magic wand that helped them make their own magic. With the help of the wand, Jack and Annie were able to find four secrets of happiness to help Merlin when he was in trouble.
Now Merlin wants Jack and Annie to bring happiness to others—by helping four creative people give their special gifts to the world…