Have you ever wondered how great it would be to inherit a castle in Scotland? What if it was haunted by a sprit called a Boggart? The book I read called The Boggart by Susan Cooper is a story based on something like that happening. The main story takes place in Toronto, Canada. The Volink family inherited a castle in Scotland from Mr. McDevon the mother’s uncle. The two children in the story are Emily and Jessup. Emily is the oldest. She is smart brave and very sensitive towards the Boggart, once she understood him. Jessup is very smart, loves computers, and was a member of a computer gang called the Gang 5.
The parents of Emily and Jessup were Robert and Maggie Volink. Robert works in the theater and Maggie owns and runs an antique store. The Volink family were excited and amazed that they inherited a castle. But what the Volink’s did not know was that a spirit called a Boggart lived there. The Boggart is a sprit that is neither good or bad. He mainly plays practical jokes on people. It is like a little child that can be friendly towards mortals. Boggarts cannot be seen or heard.. The Volink family sold the castle right away because it would be to expensive to keep. Emily and Jessup kept two pieces of furniture to bring home.
What they didn’t realize was that a Boggart was sleeping in the desk they took home. When the Boggart got up he realized he was no longer home in Scotland in his castle. As the Boggart got comfortable he began his practical jokes in Toronto. He would take Mr. Volinks razor and hide it. The Boggart would hide the razor in such a place that Mrs. Volink would find it; making Mr. Volink believe that his wife had taken it. Jessup and Emily didn’t realize a Boggart was in the house until the Boggart ate Jessup’s lunch. What had happened was that the Boggart had gotten trapped in Jessup’s lunch box.
When Jessup opened the lunch box their was no lunch. Jessup figured someone stole his lunch. But, later that day at hockey practice a puck was shot at Jessup’s face mask which the Boggart was hiding in. When the puck hit the mask the Boggart evaporated into a green gas. Jessup didn’t know what to think so, he told his sister Emily what had happened. Emily told Willie a Scottish actor about it. He told them that it was a Boggart and explained to her what it was. The Boggart played many tricks which caused the children to get punished. Emily couldn’t take it anymore. As a punishment the kids had to clean their mothers antique store.
Emily explained to Jessup about the Boggart, that was getting them into so much trouble. That’s when the Boggart realized that they knew about him. The Boggart was so delighted that he made things float and dolls dance in the shop. A customer walked in called Doctor Stigmore and couldn’t believe his eyes. He told Mrs. Volink, and she spoke to Emily. Emily tried to explain to her mother that it wasn’t her but the Boggart. Her mother didn’t believe her so she asked Dr. Stigmore to help because she thought Emily was sick. This caused the Boggart to become angry with Dr. Sigmore for bothering Emily.
The Boggart threw things around in Emily’s room when he came to visit her. When the Doctor left the Boggart realized how homesick he was. He needed to find a way to tell Jessup and Emily. The following day Jessup was playing a game on his computer called The Black Hole. Suddenly a blue flame appeared on the screen with the rocket. The flame followed the rocket into the black hole. Emily and Jessup thought they lost the Boggart forever. They really didn’t he was waiting for them further into the game. When they found him he was able to spell out a message that said that he wanted to go home to Scotland. Jessup came up with a great idea.
They copied the game with the Boggart in it on to a computer disk and sent it to their friend Tommy in Scotland. Tommy downloaded the disk and released the Boggart. The Boggart was glad to be home at his castle with his new family the Maconochies. One of the things I can relate to in the book is how difficult it may sometimes be to improve your innocence. For example when Emily and Jessup’s mother thought they were playing all the tricks. It was hard for them to prove that it was the Boggart and not them. I enjoyed reading this novel because it was funny. My favorite character was the Boggart because he was funny and played many tricks.
