A spooktacular sequel? “Abso-BOO-tely!”
Little Ghostie’s struggles to fit in continue during a summertime stay at Camp Smithville.
Just as in the simultaneously issued Only Ghost in School, the awkward reactions of other, living children leave Ghostie feeling sad and conscious of his differences. Having to stay onshore while the other campers splash in Lake Winkapoo (because water is bad for ghosts) and getting sunburned because he forgot to apply his “cala-slime” potion (“I felt like such a ghoul”) only add to his misery. Worse, after a clueless counselor’s campfire story freaks everyone else out and reinforces the annoying “ghosts are scary” stereotype, he’s even more haunted by feelings of otherness. Hannon once more explores serious themes in a palatably light, even playful way. In color illustrations that brighten nearly every page of Ghostie’s simply written narrative, she poses her doughy, diaphanous protagonist with a racially diverse cast of wide-eyed fellow campers—who all react with slapstick panic when Ghostie’s outgoing, ectoplasmic parents suddenly float in to mount a charm offensive and to lead everyone in a series of bonding games capped by a cathartic Howling Ceremony beneath the full moon.
A spooktacular sequel? “Abso-BOO-tely!” (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9780593753187
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Aimed straight at proto-Goosebumps fans, this formulaic series opener pits two 9-year-olds against a great white shark with legs. Having lost his bike in a lake thanks to the latest hare-brained scheme of his impulsive cousin Henry, bookish Keats reluctantly agrees to finance a replacement by earning some money taking on odd jobs at a spooky local mansion. The prosaic task of weeding the garden quickly turns into an extended flight through a series of magical rooms after a shark monster rises out of the ground and gives chase. Dashing from one narrow squeak to the next, the lads encounter a kitchen with an invisible "sink," a giant vomiting bookworm in the library, a carpet pattern in the hall that (literally) bites and, most usefully, a magic wand that they get to keep (setting up future episodes) after spelling the monster away. Tilted points of view give the occasional illustrations more energy than the labored plot ever musters, and the characters rarely show even two dimensions. Fledgling readers will do better in the hands of Jim Benton’s Franny K. Stein series or Bruce and Katherine Coville’s Moongobble and Me books. (Horror. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-86675-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
More side-splitting, nose-holding heroics…in the face of a still-rising tide of monsters.
Fourth-grade monster hunters Carlos and Benny face their greatest, or at least smelliest, challenge yet.
What with “funky wet-cat-with-gas” odors coming out of the ventilators and a rash of students and faculty raving scarily before falling into comas, Monterrosa Elementary is on the verge of being shut down. Previous experiences with cannibalistic lunch ladies and other supernatural hazards have left Latino narrator Carlos and his white best friend, Benny, poised to deal with the ghosts or whatever else is plaguing the school…but the dog-sized, lion-headed stinging scorpions they find lurking in the mechanical room turn out to be only the beginning of their problems. Hale adds new student Esme Ygorre (white and a descendant of a renowned monster expert who spelled his name slightly differently) to the already notably diverse cast, livens up the narrative with one-liners and vivid similes (“Her face went as grim as an all-kale buffet”), and ups the stakes considerably with an entire army of chimerical horrors created by (natch) a billionaire villain. A spritz of cola and a little—OK, a lot of—catnip finally bring down scorp-lions and villain alike, but more monsters on the loose promise further sequels. A lenticular cover image adds melodrama to the light assortment of droll pen-and-ink drawings inside.
More side-splitting, nose-holding heroics…in the face of a still-rising tide of monsters. (Horror. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1323-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
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