• Age: 12 to 15
• Reading age: 12 to 15

2011 Red Maple Award — Shortlisted

Fourteen-year-old Sam McLean is less than thrilled with the prospect of moving to a collection of old mansions on the northern fringe of a small town called Ringwood. A nobody at his old school, Sam is desperate to be accepted by the cool kids and latches on to Cody Barns, aka Maniac. Cody’s claim to fame is performing wild stunts — the crazier the better — and posting them on his blog.

When Sam reluctantly joins Cody and his sidekick, Javon, on their midnight ghost riding, a practice in which the driver and passenger climb onto the hood of their moving car and dance, something goes terribly wrong. Cody convinces Sam to flee the scene, leaving Javon for dead. But soon mysterious messages appear on Cody’s blog and anonymous notes are slid into Sam’s locker. As Sam struggles with his conscience, a haunting question remains: Who else knows the truth?

Marina Cohen is an elementary school teacher in the York Region District School Board. She has been nominated for the Sunburst, Red Maple Award, Rocky Mountain Book Award, and Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, and been an OLA Best Bet, JGL selection, and Amazon Book of the Month. She is the author of Chasing the White Witch, Ghost Ride, and Mind Gap. She lives in Markham, Ontario.

Marina Cohen's profile page

• Short-listed, Red Maple Award

Good for thrill-seeking teens 12 and up.

Winnipeg Free Press

This spooky new story by Marina Cohen — loosely tied in with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow — will grab readers from the beginning, and keep them hooked until the surprise twist ending.

Canadian Children's Book News

When combined with the associations of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, one can’t help but get into the atmosphere of this novel.

YA Bookshelf

Cohen has created a genuinely creepy story that will hold readers' attention.

CM Magazine

Ghost Ride is a gripping mixture of realism and the paranormal.

Resource Links

Ghost Ride was a book I literally couldn’t put down!

What If? Magazine

Ghost Ride

Fourteen-year-old Sam McLean is none too happy about moving to an old mansion on the fringe of his dad’s old hometown. Desperate to be accepted by the cool kids, he latches on to Cody Barns, who’s known for performing wild stunts and then posting them on his blog. When Sam reluctantly participates in one of Cody’s ghost riding stunts, something goes terribly wrong. Soon after the accident, mysterious messages start appearing on Cody’s blog, and Sam is faced with a terrifying question: Who knows the truth about what happened that night?

This spooky new story by Marina Cohen – loosely tied in with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – will grab readers from the beginning, and keep them hooked until the surprise twist ending. The town of Ringwood is a perfect setting for a ghost story, and it is more than fitting that the neighbourhood is referred to as Sleepy Hollow. There always seems to be something not quite right that Sam can’t put his finger on, and a creepy cast of supporting characters such as the odd neighbour boy and the old lady across the street contribute to the atmosphere in the town. Sam is a likeable and authentic character, and readers will completely identify with his desire to fit in, and his frustrations with his parents. Sam is also a thoroughly modern teenager, and his dependence on his cell phone and the internet will ring true with readers.

Reluctant boy readers especially will find this an enjoyable read.