A spooky ghost story interwoven with fascinating historical elements.
As if being misjudged by adults and targeted by a bully aren’t enough, Carter John must also contend with a very angry ghost.
By contrast, Carter John’s best friend, Gianna, “never [gets] in trouble for anything.” Gianna is shorter than average and tired of people thinking of her as a “baby”; Carter John had a summer growth spurt, and between his height and his “new deep voice,” people are treating him differently. When the Black sixth graders decide to do their history project on astronaut Ron McNair, they go to the public library to do research. After they’re baited by bully Amanda, Gianna’s former friend, Carter John gets upset, and he’s unfairly singled out for discipline by the librarian. He feels intense anger—and then something strange happens: A bookshelf shakes, and a couple of books fall off it, hitting the librarian’s ankles. This is just the beginning of the odd events that plague Carter John, from hearing a strange song to fires breaking out. He and Gianna are determined to figure out what’s going on, and their investigations uncover a tragic chapter in their town’s history. Brown effectively incorporates information about Black history into her novel, which alternates between Carter John’s and Gianna’s third-person points of view. The story also sensitively explores relationships and the pain of being misunderstood. Fans of Tracey Baptiste and Mary Downing Hahn will find much to enjoy.
A spooky ghost story interwoven with fascinating historical elements. (author’s note) (Paranormal mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781546116400
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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