TOTALLY PSYCHIC

Ghosts aren’t all that haunt a young seer when her family abruptly relocates to Rancho Cucamonga.

Unfazed by ectoplasmic encounters since “we always had more ghosts than pastelitos in our house,” 12-year-old Cuban American Paloma Ferrer yearns to join her celebrity psychic abuela, former star of Miami Mystic, on her annual tour of Latin America. Alas, those hopes come crashing down when her parents transport her and pesky little sister Magdelena from Miami to California. Paloma is disappointed by the “boring beige rectangle” of her new home—“no beach in sight!” Her mom warns her to save her “enthusiasm for making new friends with real living people,” so Paloma decides to make a good impression on her new schoolmates by conducting readings that inadvertently release hordes of specters to roam the halls and classrooms. Worse yet, a new friendship is shattered when, at the behest of an insistent ghost, she reveals to classmate Willow private, painful information. Martin casts the ghosts as largely harmless or even friendly and even summons spectral chickens and a cat to add to the fun. The pervasive rosy glow continues through to the happy ending, with most of the ghosts sent back to the spirit world and fences mended with Willow. A surprise Christmas reunion of the whole psychically gifted family, living and otherwise, sends the tale out on a buoyant rush of good feelings.

A feel-good paranormal romp teeming with ghosts and happy outcomes.