Guys and Dolls

There aren't really any guys in The Doll in the Garden, except for the brother of Kristi, the little girl who lives next door to the place where Ashley and her mother have just moved.  Oh and the cats!  Both cats in the books are dudes.
As I always tell kids who choose a MDH book, this isn't like Scooby Doo where the "ghost" turns out to be Uncle Joe, so there is a real element of paranormal and scare here.  Doll in the Garden wasn't super scary, but the ghost is real.  This also addresses this issue of the death of a parent (Ashley's dad dies before the story begins) and the death of a friend.  Really good book!