Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Keeper of the Night
	Author:	Holt, Kimberly
	Date Published:	2002
	Genre:	Thriller
	Grade Level:	7 - 12
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
I found my mother on her knees. Praying, I thought. I eased her door shut and made breakfast for my little brother and sister, feeling very proud of myself. Mother had left no note, good-byes, hugs or kisses. Only the empty bottle of sleeping pills. After mother's death, we moved into Auntie Minerva's house because Tata told Auntie Bernadette that he saw mother's ghost standing by the door. Aunties Minerva's house is in a different town, but she is Tata's sister, while Auntie Bernadette who lives in our town, is mother's sister. Every few week I ask Tata when we will go home, but his answer is always "Soon." I live by lists, and completing the tasks I assign myself on them. Things to do that might help us return to our own home: 1) Make father proud of me a) Don't argue with Auntie Minerva b) Go to mass with Auntie Minerva c) Keep Auntie Minerva's house clean d) Take Olivia to the bathroom in the middle of the night so she won't wet the bed. e) Try to make B's in every class (Okay, a C in science) 2) Pray for mother's ghost to leave our house. Since my mother died, everything has changed. Tata disappears before we awake and returns after supper. He never hugs me, although he does Olivia. Then, he slips into the guest room and closes the door. Olivia wets her bed every night and wakes up repeatedly with nightmares. Frank, is the smart one. He loved corny knock-knock jokes. Now, though, he doesn't make any friends in our new home. Instead, he's become more withdrawn. Then, one day, I discover the marks he has been carving into the wall in his bedroom. I hate you I hate you I hate you . . .