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    On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave
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    On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave
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    On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave
    Ebook184 pages2 hours

    On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave

    By Candace Fleming

    3/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "Positively tailor-made for reading—or reading aloud—by flashlight," declares Kirkus Reviews in a starred review.

    The phenomenally versatile, award-winning author Candace Fleming gives teen and older tween readers ten ghost stories sure to send chills up their spines. Set in White Cemetery, an actual graveyard outside Chicago, each story takes place during a different time period from the 1860s to the present, and ends with the narrator's death. Some teens die heroically, others ironically, but all due to supernatural causes. Readers will meet walking corpses and witness demonic posession, all against the backdrop of Chicago's rich history—the Great Depression, the World's Fair, Al Capone and his fellow gangsters.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateJul 10, 2012
    ISBN9780375898631
    Unavailable
    On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave
    Author

    Candace Fleming

    Candace Fleming is the author of Giant Squid, an ALA Notable Book and Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book, and numerous other books for children. She lives in Oak Park, Illinois. From the Author: I have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade, I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family’s trip to Paris, France. I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn’t. I didn’t have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I’d certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story . . . and seeing my listener’s reaction. Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year-old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn’t stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They’re precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on. In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Ms. Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mâché pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again. I tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words -- to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful and yet told a story. As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college, where I discovered yet another passion -- history. I didn’t realize it then, but studying history was really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones -- tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened. After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that’s when I discovered the joy and music of children’s books. I simply couldn’t get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children’s books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved -- stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn’t wait to get started. But writing children’s books is harder than it sounds. For three years, I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn’t give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children’s author had begun.

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    Reviews for On the Day I Died

    3/5

    71 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I've always been a big fan of ghost stories. There's something about being spooked, about getting that shiver up your spine as you read, that makes me just devour them. So of course when I saw Candace Fleming's On The Day I Died, I had to read it. What I found between these pages was a perfect blend of urban legends and completely original stories. I'll warn you, once you start reading there is no turning back.

      What I really liked is how the book is a compilation of stories within a larger, encompassing story. Our main character Mike finds himself in the middle of a cemetery at night. I won't tell you how he gets there, but I will tell you that he is braver than me! As the plot moves forward, Mike is treated to the tales of the dismal lives that each inhabitant of the graveyard lived, as well as the unfortunate way they met their demise. Some of these stories are better than others, but they are all wonderfully tragic.

      In fact that's what I really enjoyed about On The Day I Died overall. Since it is a compilation, it's perfectly okay to skim over, or skip, the stories that might not keep your interest as well. It's also really nice that there is something for everyone who loves ghost stories. A little bit of history here, a few poor choices there, and you have a poor soul who died young and now shares their story. The characters are just vivid enough to get their story across, but it is really the stories themselves that take center stage here. It's a quick read, and a great one at that.

      My favorite part was definitely at the end when the author explains where the inspiration for each untimely death came from. It's fascinating to see how real life influenced the legends. If you are looking for a quick, different, and maybe even slightly scary read, then I recommend picking this up!
    • 3/5
      I thought the book was okay. It had some good stories in it and I'd suggest it for the Holloween season. It's, as the titles says, stories about the day the characters in the book died. Quick somewhat creepy read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      Grades 5 or 6 and up-- Mike is driving home late one night in the suburbs of Chicago when he sees a figure in the road and narrowly avoids hitting her. He gives her a ride home, but when he notices that she left her saddle shoes in the car, he goes up to her door, where her mother tells him that the girl he just gave a ride to has been dead for over 50 years. Each year on this date, she appears to someone as she walks along the road. Mike takes her shoes to the small local graveyard and when he reaches the section of the cemetery set aside for people who died in their teens, he is beset by a group of adolescent spirits who want to tell their stories. The nine stories that follow are suitably chilling to satisfy kids who can't get enough ghost stories. An afterword from Candace Fleming gives the historical context of each of the stories that are included in the collection. A fun and shivery read for upper elementary and middle school students.
    • 3/5
      A teen is driving home one night, meets a ghost, and ends up listening to stories from other teen ghosts in this teen graveyard of how they died. Good for ghost stories. They are drawn together by the telling of the stories, but each story stands on its own as well. All are rooted in historical facts or lore, as well as urban legends. The stories vary widely, from historical to science fiction. For readers who can enjoy going back and forth.
    • 4/5
      I love a good ghost story and On the Day I Died: Stories From the Grave did not disappoint. This is a collection of stories that details the untimely demise of nine teenagers. Each person has a unique story to tell and they range from scary to truly horrifying. The fact that author peppers the story with actual facts from Chicago's history makes it all the more terrifying. I would highly recommend this to people who enjoy ghost stories!
    • 2/5
      Liked: short, easily-digestible stories from each character's perspective. All stories are set against Chicago history (Al Capone, the World's Fair, etc...) and give a real sense of Chicago through the years.Disliked: Some stories were paranormal, others were just bad luck. For the most part I couldn't really get a handle on what they were going for. Some of the ties to Chicago history made you groan a little bit as they were trying to shoehorn it in there instead of letting a story just exist.Readalikes: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, or other horror anthologies.
    • 3/5
      Written almost like a collection of short stories....Mike is driving fast trying to get home before his curfew when he picks up a girl who brings him to the cemetery. There, Mike encounters a bunch of ghosts...all teenagers who share the stories of how they died so young to Mike.
    • 2/5
      This book is a collection of short ghost stories. The author's notes at the back of the book are very interesting. She based these stories on actual facts surrounding people and places in Chicago.
    • 4/5
      This was the perfect book to read on the run-up to Hallowe'en night. Not that I celebrate Hallowe'en, but I like to use October to read a few spooky novels all the same! In the finest Goosebumps and Point Horror tradition, this is a great book to scare the kids whilst also sending a little nostalgic chill down the spine of any adults who might find themselves perusing its pages...On The Day I Died is really a book of short stories, set in a wider context to tie them neatly together so it still makes a coherent novel if you prefer to devour it whole. It begins with young Mike, making his way home late one night, being swept up in a bizarre set of circumstances which culminate in him sitting in a Chicago graveyard listening to a group of teenage ghosts telling their death stories. Each spirit gets their turn to talk about how they lived and died, their tales spanning from the mid-nineteenth century right through to 2012, and their deaths mostly occurring by supernatural (and ghoulishly unpleasant) means.What I found really interesting about this book is how firmly it is rooted in genuine Chicago history and culture, and within the horror genre as a whole. At the back of the book Fleming details her inspiration for each character's tale - old newspaper headlines, the criminal underworld, creepy old buildings, local mythology - and also mentions the old television series and classic horror stories that lent flavour to her stories. As a young teenager this section would have had me running to the library to see what kind of supernatural folklore exists around my own county!I think Fleming has really delivered a little something for everyone here. Sure, the segues between stories are a tad awkward, but Mike's presence pulls everything together, and the stories themselves are varied enough to cater to every taste. There are aliens and evil artefacts, moments of madness and spooky old buildings, walking corpses and all-consuming flames - all the things that give a reader of any age that sickly but strangely delicious urge to shudder. The age guidance on the book suggests that it is suitable for kids of 11+, and I'd have to agree; there are some very bloody, macabre and frightening moments, more akin to the slightly more YA-oriented Point Horror series than Goosebumps. My advice? Grab yourself a bowl of popcorn and a cushion, and read on... if you dare!
    • 3/5
      Mike is driving home late one night and is stopped by a girl in the road - she is soaked and it is cold and dark, so he gives her a ride home. After dropping her off he realizes that she left her shoes so he brings them back to her house only to find that she died over fifty years ago. He brings her shoes to the graveyard only to find himself in the presence of many teenaged ghosts. Each ghost wants to tell his or her story, and Mike is the one who they want to listen.I loved this book considering myself as the audience, but I think young kids would have a hard time with the intensity of some of the stories...I have adult friends that put it down because it was just too creepy. This book is one for future Stephen King fans :)
    • 4/5
      Who doesn't love a good ghost story?This book is literal 'ghost' stories. The ghosts are the ones telling their stories to real live Mike Kowlaski. Yes, it happens late at night at an old run down cemetary.All the stories are skillfully bound together. Mike is the individual chosen to hear and repeat the stories of these sad ghosts, thereby allowing them to 'move on'. All the ghosts are teenagers from various periods in Chicago's history. Yes, one even lived in the 20's during the reign of Scarface himself. Capone makes a cameo in one of the stories. Kids are going to love this story!!Some of the stories are better than others. More than one may bring a tear to your eye, one or two may have you rolling your eyes, burt all are sad.The nine stories are spooky and delightful at the same time. Readers will enjoy this compilation of eerie stories from Candace Fleming.
    • 2/5
      This book was a little too young for my tastes. That being said, the writing is phenomenal, and I really enjoyed the Chicago history incorporated in On the Day I Died. The main reason this book called to me on NetGalley is because it featured Chicago as a backdrop. I really enjoyed the idea of the short stories being linked together. It reminded me of those "scary" books I used to read when I was in junior high. That's one of the reasons I didn't give this book a higher rating, though. I felt like it was supposed to be scary, but it wasn't. The story begins with a present-day ghost story, and the stories that follow are all being told from various victims of death. They all died in different ways and in different time periods. I also liked how Fleming included a bit about the Urban Legends she pulled from in the end. This collection of stories is rich and well-rounded, to say the least. My favorite story was the depression era story. I love that time period in Chicago. Overall, I'd recommend this book to children ages 11-14. It reads for a younger audience than the YA that I'm used to. It may scare the kids a bit, but who doesn't love a good scare at that age? The stories are definitely suspenseful, and I think that if I wasn't as old as I am, then they would have scared me a bit. Nothing too horrifying, just some good clean, scary fun. If you have a kid who enjoys the tween scary stories, like I did when I was growing up, then they are sure to love this book!