When was wait till helen comes written

Download Loading My Downloads. Need Help? Summary: Molly and Michael dislike their spooky new stepsister Heather but realize that they must try to save her when she seems ready to follow a ghost child to her doom. Physical Description: p. ISBN: pbk. Molly is immediately disturbed by her new stepsister, Heather, a seven-year-old who is unhappy with her father's remarriage and the presence of new children in the house. Initially, Heather's behavior is typical of a child unhappy with the behavior of her parents.

She lies, manipulating Jean and Dave into believing that Molly and Michael have done something they shouldn't have, getting them into trouble. As the oldest, Molly is often given the task of watching Heather, but the girl has a penchant for disappearing, leaving Molly to spend many of her babysitting days searching the extensive church grounds hunting for Heather.

The plot is fast-paced and intense in this classic ghost story. Originally published in , this has remained a favorite read to revisit around Halloween. Skip to main navigation Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to search Skip to content. Use current location. See all locations. Admin Admin Admin, collapsed. Mom and Dave did most of the talking; they didn't make much of an effort to involve us in the plans they were making for their art projects.

As soon as you finish eating, please go out and keep an eye on Heather. I don't want her wandering off. It's up to you to make sure she doesn't run wild in the woods all day. I've got to get back to my painting. I heard him tell Mom that all they do is mess up your head. It doesn't bother anybody else, so forget it, okay? We called and called. Finally I found Heather way down on the other side of the creek near that ruin you told your mother about. He put his arms around her and stroked her hair as if she were a child, letting her tears soak his shirt.

Heather hovered near her father, obviously displeased by the attention he was giving Mom. Now they're ruined. How will we pay the mortgage?

How will we heat the house? View all 39 comments. Aug 11, Jodi Meadows rated it it was amazing. When I was eleven, one of my teachers read this book to the class.

Books must be written. By people. Like, it's their job to make up stories. And if I worked hard enough, it could be my job, too. It was also one of the first books I remember reading on my own where the magic w When I was eleven, one of my teachers read this book to the class. It was also one of the first books I remember reading on my own where the magic was real -- where ghosts weren't explained away by wind or pale but living creatures.

When I knew I liked this book, I was able to tell my librarians and get more books that set my imagination free. I will always love this book. View all 3 comments. Oct 29, Martha rated it really liked it Shelves: kids. This is a bone-chilling goodie, too. Everything I love in a ghost story: creepy little girls, hidden graves, faces in windows, crumbling ruins in the woods, even a dark and murky pond.

A bit dated, but none-the-less, a gem of a read right before Halloween. View 2 comments. I was really enjoying this young adult ghost story until we got to the ending.

I wish Hahn had gone a different route, or at least made it that things were not wrapped up so smoothly. Then again maybe I'm a blood thirsty reader who wanted some murder and mayhem to occur. Told in the first person, we follow 12 year old Molly as she and the rest of her blended family move from Baltimore to some random place in the country.

Right away Hahn causes all my sympathies to lie towards Molly and her 10 ye I was really enjoying this young adult ghost story until we got to the ending. Right away Hahn causes all my sympathies to lie towards Molly and her 10 year old brother Michael. Molly and Michael's mother Jean has remarried a man named Dave. Dave has a 7 year old daughter named Heather. Heather sucks. I don't care about how Hahn tries to absolve that kid of some of the things that goes on, but nope. She's awful.

Her father is too. Picture it, you're randomly just told that you and your brother and the rest of your blended family are moving out to the country. There goes your summer of hanging out with your friends, the ability for you to participate at a lot of events. Instead of you're getting moved to some old church so your mother and your stepfather can concentrate on their artistic endeavors. Frankly I kind of hope the parents would meet a bad end in this book. Because those two were probably two of the most selfish human beings ever.

They sucked as parents and even partners. I just couldn't get over how Molly and Michael's mom just expected them to sit there and watch their terrible stepsister while she did things. Also I'm kind of baffled that they would move this family out somewhere randomly in the country that doesn't seem to have a school system set up to what the kids were used to. Once the family settles into the old church, things start to happen. They find out that they have a graveyard on their property, and a dilapidated home nearby as well.

Things take a turn for the worse when it appears that Heather seems to be talking to someone named Helen and Heather keeps threatening Michael and Molly that when Helen comes she's going to make them pay. We have a lot of tension being built in the story as Molly starts to realize what's going on and nobody believes her.

But also there's tension because a family of five plopped down in the middle of nowhere is going to have a lot of issues especially when half of the family doesn't appear to like each other much. Molly is cast in the role of a modern-day Cassandra that will not be believed no matter what is being shown to everybody around her. Her brother Michael is a budding scientist and skeptic, and doesn't believe in ghosts.

He just believes that Heather's doing what she can to get a rise out of Molly. The two parents are just oblivious and jerks and blame both Molly and Michael anytime Heather's upset about anything. Frankly it would have done everybody a lot of good of Heather had just been turned over somebody's knee and spanked, but there you go. And Heather is at turns dishonest, shows jealousy and just general jerkitude about everything that's going on. I did like the writing and thought that Hahn did a very good job of setting the mood so to speak.

The illustration was pretty cool to look at at the beginning of the book that showed the layout of the church, the graveyard, Harper House, and the pond that is nearby. The flow was okay, though after the first couple of incidents you just kind of want the story to get on already. But this is a really short book and you can easily complete it in about an hour. This is definitely a good book to read on a rainy day or at night right before you go to bed.

I have already said though I did find the ending to be just blah. I think Hahn could have gone for maximum horror effect if she had just decided to change the ending up and this would have easily been a five-star book in my mind. Mar 13, Kristina Horner rated it it was ok Shelves: childhood-books , ghosts.

This is a book I've literally had on my shelf for over 10 years. My aunt gave it to me years ago, as it was her favorite children's book. I, being a terrible niece, never read it. Until now. Wait Till Helen Comes is an interesting book. I think it might have scared me, as a child. It deals heavily with death, some twisted forms of manipulation from a ghost, and multiple people dying in fires.

Surprisingly dark for a middle grade book. As an adult, I was extremely bothered by how terrible and worth This is a book I've literally had on my shelf for over 10 years.

As an adult, I was extremely bothered by how terrible and worthless every character except for Molly and Heather were. The parents were exceptionally terrible we pulled you out of your wonderfully educational summer programs to move to the country to work on our art, find something else to do. Bad parenting. Stop making clay pots and sort your shit out. Michael, too, was a joke. I truly wish I'd read this as a kid when my aunt first gave it to me, but I'm glad I've at least finally checked it off my list.

Oct 25, The Captain rated it it was amazing Shelves: younger-readers. Ahoy there mateys! I had forgotten all about this book and was reminded of it today. I freakin' loved this book when I was a wee lass. I know the ending was wrapped up tidily but I read it over and over again. So five stars for nostalgia alone. Apr 08, C.