Ghosted is a charming twist on Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, plonking it into the modern day world and swapping the genders of the protagonists. The result is fun and should please most teenagers, but I can’t rate it higher than a B.

Hattie Tillney is an ex-paranormal investigator who’s given up her passion since her father passed away. He has never appeared to her in ghost form, which has shattered her faith in the afterlife. Her remaining living relatives dwell at Northanger Abbey, the world’s most haunted school, of which her mother is the distracted headmistress. Hattie is preoccupied with caring for her siblings, young Liam and older Freddie, and all of them are lost in their own personal grief. Determined to put the past behind her, she’s stunned when she makes the acquaintance of Kit Morland.

Kit is an eager ghost-lover who absolutely believes that spirits are real. Unfortunately, he’s traveled over on a ghost hunting scholarship, and his studies involve trying to figure out if all of those rumors about Northanger Abbey are true. Hattie and Kit split their search in two directions: Hattie will prove the ghosts aren’t real and Kit will search for proof they are. Along the way they get closer, and all of Kit’s preconceptions about love and death are challenged.

There’s just enough of the original novel left in Ghosted to make this book feel like a proper tribute without it feeling like a poor copy of the original story. It is, of course, not very Austeninan in its telling, but what is, aside from the real deal? Kit and Hattie are two likable teenagers who have actual issues to deal with, familial and with their futures. Their love story is sweet without being sappy.

The paranormal thread is delightful, a good reflection of Catherine’s obsessions in the original novel. But the worldbuilding and tech help make this stand out on its own. The Tilney family is a realistically dysfunctional but still easy to like and relate to. And what’s really enjoyable is the book’s talk of faith – in life, not just death.

This is an entertaining little volume with a sparkly sense of humor, although I reckon adults aren’t likely to enjoy it as much as kids; it’s perhaps a little too pat in its morals. But Ghosted will be a pleasant diversion for younger readers.