The Ghosts of Ashbury High (originally released in Australia as Dreaming of Amelia) is a young adult novel written by Jaclyn Moriarty. Although it can also be read as a standalone novel, it is the fourth and final instalment in the Ashbury-Brookfield series, following Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Year of Secret Assignments and The Murder Of Bindy Mackenzie. Like its companion books, it is a largely Epistolary Novel told through homework assignments, exam papers, blog entries, and meeting minutes, among others.
Riley and Amelia are two new students at the prestigious Ashbury High, having both been awarded scholarships. From the moment they arrive, teachers and students alike are fascinated with the gorgeous and talented pair, who are not only brilliant at seemingly everything, but have also been boyfriend and girlfriend since they were fourteen. With the HSCnote English exam on gothic fiction serving as a Framing Device, the Year 12 students of Ashbury begin to become obsessed with secrets, ghosts, and strange supernatural goings-on happening around the school. The story takes place over the course of roughly one year and features several characters who appeared in the previous books.
Tropes:
- The Ace: Riley and Amelia - both beautiful, multitalented, and popular.
- Affably Evil: Patrick O'Doherty, Amelia's stepdad, tells her Irish fairy stories and coaches her in swimming. It's later revealed he also sexually abused her for several years and distributed the photos.
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Cassie, Emily and Lydia almost always call each other Cass, Em and Lyd.
- Riley calls Amelia "Ame" (pronounced "aim").
- Babies Make Everything Better: Whenever Riley talks about his little sister Chloe.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: Cassie (as mentioned in Secret Assignments), and later Amelia.
- Becoming the Mask: Riley thinks Amelia has turned into a "richgirl" after she starts spending more time around Lydia and her friends.
- Berserk Button: Do NOT mess with Amelia while Riley's around.
- The Bus Came Back: At first it seems like Charlie, Emily's ex, will be absent from the story, but at the end it's revealed he's been commenting on her blog this whole time.
- Call-Back:
- It's mentioned in The Murder Of Bindy Mackenzie, the previous instalment, that Toby is planning to build a pool table for his big Year 11 Woodwork project. As The Ghosts of Ashbury High takes place a year later, we see that he really did build it and keeps it at home.
- Ernst von Schmerz decides to go back to using his real name of Kee Dow Liang at the end of Bindy Mackenzie. He is referred to as Kee in this book.
- Emily says she "saw something that made [her] head spin like a Mixmaster". Kee (formerly known as Ernst) said this about her in Bindy Mackenzie.
- The Cameo: Several characters from the earlier books briefly appear, such as Bindy, Kee (aka Ernst), Astrid, Briony, Saxon, and Elizabeth.
- Chekhov's Armoury: A common characteristic of Moriarty's books. Most of the commenters on Emily's blog turn out to be important later.
- Chekhov's Gunman:
- Constance, who also goes by the screen name Floralnightie. Turns out it was her who vandalised Seb's artwork.
- yowta772, a frequent commenter on Emily's blog, is revealed to be her ex-boyfriend Charlie.
- KL Mason Patterson himself. Constance's former classmate and boyfriend of Sandra Wilkinson, both of whom she adored during her school days.
- The Chessmaster: Emily tries to be one by meddling in her friends' love lives, but it doesn't quite pan out as she intends.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Constance and Emily both have shades of this.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Lydia and Cassie sometimes play this role to the more hysterical Emily.
- Cool Teacher: Mr Roberto Garcia, History and Drama teacher and coordinator of the Ashbury/Brookfield production. His students even try to get him to quit smoking because they like him so much.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Turns out Emily was right all along about something strange happening in the Art Rooms. It just wasn't a ghost.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Riley and Amelia.
- They never turned up at Brookfield because they were both sent to juvenile detention after trying to steal from a petrol station. A man intervened and tried to hurt Amelia, resulting in Riley severely beating him to protect her. The man was so badly injured that he lost the ability to walk.
- They also lived on the streets for a while.
- Riley has also been in foster care for many years after being physically abused by his mother's boyfriend. He is devastated when his foster sister is returned to her biological parents near the end of the story.
- Darker and Edgier: Brings up some heavy topics such as mental illness, homelessness, and sexual abuse, which were not really touched on in the previous instalments.
- Dark Secret: Riley and Amelia's history of being abused; Riley's assault on the petrol station owner; Sandra Wilkinson's death.
- Dissimile:Emily: I shall be frank as a boy named Frank.
- Doorstopper: Over 500 pages long.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Or rather the committee member/teacher nobody likes: Mr Ludovico.
- Happy Ending: Everyone graduates school with good grades, Amelia's stepdad is charged for his crimes, Amelia and Riley both recover from their injuries and stay together, the committee decides not to terminate their scholarships, and Seb and Lydia get back together (finally!).
- Lady Drunk: Lydia's mother, a washed-up actress.
- Maybe Ever After: Jacob (Toby's dad) and Patricia (Cassie's mum).
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane:
- Lydia writes a story about having a conversation with a ghost by means of a Word document and presents it this way.
- Amelia's encounters with her mysterious friend. Was it time travel, some other sort of supernatural phenomenon, or was Amelia just suffering from hallucinations induced by her own mental illness?
- Mistaken for Cheating: When Amelia tells Lydia that she has to go and visit a friend who lives in a psychiatric institution, Lydia immediately assumes this is a cover story for her cheating on Riley.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Lydia's reaction after kissing Riley and almost breaking Amelia and Riley up over a misunderstanding.
- New Transfer Student: Riley and Amelia used to be enrolled at Brookfield, but never showed up. They are admitted to Ashbury on the KL Mason Patterson Scholarship.
- Rape as Backstory: Amelia ran away from home at age thirteen after telling her mum that her stepdad had been taking inappropriate photos of her for several years. Her mum doesn't believe her.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mr Ludovico gives a pretty nasty one to Emily when she asks why he hasn't signed her application form, calling her a child and saying she doesn't have what it takes to become a lawyer.
- Relationship Reboot: After much dalliance, Lydia and Seb get back together at the end of the book.
- The Reveal:
- The Ashbury Ghost is none other than Constance Milligan, an elderly ex-student and committee member, who had been hiding in the school and observing the events of the story through an air vent.
- Riley and Amelia left the more shocking details of their criminal past off their scholarship applications. When the committee is informed, it almost results in their scholarships being terminated and having to pay a lot of money back to Ashbury.
- Thanks to Toby's testimony, we learn that Amelia's friend in the psychiatric institution most likely does not exist.
- Romantic False Lead: Seb seems to be getting together with Astrid after they hook up at a party, but it doesn't go very far.
- Sadist Teacher: Mr Ludovico seems to delight in crushing Emily's dreams.
- Sanity Slippage: It's implied this may be happening to Amelia.
- Sentimental Drunk: Emily, in spades.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Mr Botherit gives one to Mr Ludovico in the final meeting minutes.Dear Bill,Last night the committee resolved: (...)that the membership of Bill Ludovico on the KL Mason Patterson Trust Fund Committee be terminated. (Grounds: he never comes to meetings and he's a bit of an arrogant ass (no offence).)
- Super Couple: Riley and Amelia are an in-universe example.
- Totally Radical: The book was first published in 2009, so the "txt spk" such as "c u l8r" that some characters use may come off this way to a reader in the 2020s. Thanks to the advent of smartphones with full keyboards,
this writing style is rarely seen nowadays. - Trademark Favourite Food: Amelia loves blueberries, gingerbread and cinnamon.
- Uptown Girl:
- Emily is this to Charlie, likewise Lydia to Seb. The girls come from well-off families and attend a private school, whereas the boys have humbler backgrounds and attend a statenote school.
- Before he learns the real reason she left home, Riley comes to the conclusion that Amelia is a privileged girl who chose to run away and live in a hostel for petty reasons.
- Unfortunate Name: Chris Botherit, the English teacher.
- Wham Episode: The last 100 or so pages are where the plot kicks into high gear and the loose ends begin to wrap up, while an appropriately gothic storm rages in the background.
- Wild Teen Party: Lydia's parents go on holiday to Tuscany to try to fix their marriage during Term 2, leaving her home alone for weeks. Many drug- and alcohol-fuelled parties ensue.
- Will They or Won't They?: Lydia and Seb.
