Lily's Ghosts reminds me of Halloween, as in little kids dressed up as Disney princesses and comic book heroes carrying treat bags full of goodies collected from friends and neighbors. Pretty harmless fun, no?  But the dark side of witches, mummies, and zombies glorifying evil that show up at our doorstep can draw souls away from what is good and holy to the rebellious and disobedient devil and his minions.

A ghostly character named Lola in Lily's Ghosts pulls a series of harmless pranks on Lily, the main character, not a ghost herself. The ghost wishes she would have starred in a school play as "Lola, the sexy satanic seductress in Damn Yankees"  before she died (p. 25). The author's description of this character can lead to the violation of the Sixth Commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery. This commandment calls us to chastity and modesty in our thoughts, words, and deeds and forbids books, movies, video games, and other things that tempt us to do otherwise.

In this book, you'll also find Madame Durriken's Good Fortunes Shoppe, "stocked with tarot-card decks, candles, astrology charts, incense, dream interpretation books, spell manuals..."  (p. 37) Madame Durriken is a quack who calls upon the spirits of the dead (p. 39). More than once, she shuffles tarot cards to read them. Despite an entertaining read, this book delves into the demonically inspired occult, potentially raising curiosity among young readers that could drive them into the dark side of the spiritual world. Violation: the First Commandment, I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before me, which forbids occult practices.

Lily is an only child whose dad abandoned the family, and her mom brings her along as she goes from relationship to relationship in city to city. Eventually, they get kicked out of their home and are forced to choose between homelessness and asking for help from a relative whom they hadn't seen in years. Of her mom's latest boy friend, Lily states that her mom "thought they would move in together and maybe get married someday. But that guy...moved...."  In this excerpt, the author provides an example of actually breaking the Sixth Commandment. Certainly some kids whose parents are divorced can relate to abandonment. In fact, statistics show that around 50% of all marriages in the U.S. end up in divorce. However, we want our kids to have healthy relationships with their future spouse and to teach them that God designed marriage between a man and a woman to last until death.

There's no mention of characters practicing any type of religious faith, yet the author's use of "omigod" and  "(f)or god's sake" break the Second Commandment, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. This commandment also forbids cursing, which the author inserts in an instance of dialogue, "What in the hell is going on here?" (p. 211).

In middle school, kids are starting to navigate the waters of romance, so it's not surprising that Lily has a love interest, Vaz. Up in the attic of her uncle's home in search of her uncle, the door locks mysteriously behind them. As they wait to be rescued, Vaz kisses Lily twice. The author writes that "Lily felt the blood beating in her ears, felt something inside her, achy and new, open up like a bud." (p150) It's a violation of the Sixth Commandment to fall to the temptation of a lustful thought.


We are all sinners living in an imperfect world, and we can expect to write and read all about it.  
The purpose of examining this book under the Ten Commandments is to show how far we've strayed from clean, wholesome fiction. Lola is not the only ghost in Lily's Ghosts, and dishonesty, revenge, violence, and breaking and entering a home are all part of the story. There's even a misconception about heaven: a ghost named Max says there are many heavens. But we are called to love God and one another and to help each other get to the one true heaven. This means writing and reading about this world responsibly.

This book was published in 2003, and you may be able to find it in a library at a Catholic school. I recommend taking a look at the books your kids are reading more closely. If you're like me, you might be surprised at the radical ideas the world thinks you have.