Identify YA Fiction, again

January 31, 2016 8:47 PM

So I'm in my mid-40's and at some point before junior high school (so, late 70's or early 80's), I read a YA book that I remember absolutely nothing at all about except a single thing.

At some point in the book (and I remember nothing of the plot or setting), the protagonist (a pre-teen or teen girl) learns that when people or animals get quite old and near death, they release a ghost version of their younger self. I believe she sees both a family dog and her grandmother in their ghost younger version.

I think her grandmother is the one who explains the phenomena to her and I think her grandmother specifically refers to the spirits as doppelganger.

Ring any bells? I asked 5 years ago without success and thought I'd try again.

posted by crush-onastick to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

It sounds like it could be a Betty Ren Wright book. She released her first books in the early 80s, and her works featured teen and preteen protagonists as well as ghosts. Sorry I don't have anything more specific.
posted by Ostara at 10:43 PM on January 31, 2016

Was it illustrated? Do you remember anything about how the illustrations looked, if so? That might give you another search vector for it.
posted by egypturnash at 3:33 AM on February 1, 2016