Tag: Barbara Catchpole

Tod already has his head full of girls, school, family life and his Saturday job when, suddenly, he also has to deal with a dead guy talking to him behind his left ear. Tod is desperate to get on with his own life without worrying about dead Ed, but Ed grows deeper roots into Tod’s head.  Ed used to live in the nursing home Tod worked in. Tod takes advantage of Ed’s skills in math, marketing, and, most importantly, girls. Ed, however, may have found something that would allow him full control over this young specimen and to start a new life complete with parties, romance, and drugs. Catchpole creatively takes an idea of what happens after death and creates a unique story about a boy struggling with his current life with a dead person talking in his ear.

Catchpole sprinkles a variety of characters through the story, a favourite being independent, tough Lacey. Dead Ed in my Head is told by Tod and Ed, often through their thought processes. This technique is enjoyable as Tod often gets sidetracked, and it also allows the reader and Tod to learn more about Ed’s past. Through Tod, Catchpole shows what teenage life is like: the things they get up to, the struggles they face and what is happening on the inside. 

Catchpole humorously brings this coming-of-age story neatly together with relatable moments of school battles, family strife and first love. An interesting book which I quite enjoyed reading.

Rowan Beddows, teen reviewer