Monstrous fun, spun around some serious messages.
A sudden move from spooky Scareville to the all-human town of Smithville leaves little Ghostie feeling like a real outsider in school.
Though Ghostie is happy in Scareville, “a very diverse town filled with ghosts, witches, vampires, skeletons, mummies, monsters, and werewolves,” he makes a brave effort to fit in at Smithville Elementary after his mom accepts a new job in a new locale as a “human relations agent,” charged with dispelling stereotypes about ghosts. Unfortunately, everyone else at school is a human, though depicted in the color illustrations on nearly every page of this early chapter book in an assortment of skin colors. Ghostie makes several “BOO” boos, such as bringing a bunch of terrifying spiders and eyeballs to a class birthday party. Worse yet, bullying classmate Kevin quickly saddles him with the humiliating moniker of “Grossie Ghostie.” Back home, not even Ghostie’s favorite dinner of frog nuggets and stench fries can pull him out of a “franken-funk.” Readers feeling Ghostie’s pain may be heartened when he bonds with another classmate who shares his interest in spiders and breaks the ice with everyone else by sharing a family photo album at show and tell, which prompts a flurry of interested questions, from “Can you get sunburned?” to “Do ghosts poop?” The takeaways are clear and sweetly leavened by the goofy, supernatural-themed wordplay; readers will have a ball.
Monstrous fun, spun around some serious messages. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9780593753156
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes.
Olympic gold medalist Morgan runs down the celebrity-sports-fiction checklist in this series opener: New school? Check. New friends? Check. New boyfriend? Maybe! New soccer team? Check. Inspire said team to take on snooty archrival private school? Check.
Quickly shedding perfunctory initial reservations, Devin sails into seventh grade at Kentville Middle School, makes instant connections in class and at Kangaroos soccer tryouts. She meets requisite bully Mirabelle at the latter, then goes on to be elected team co-captain. After a disastrous start to the season, she helps her team’s members and even the less-than-rigorous coach land on the same winning page. Following a sleepover, a dance, team-building drills and exercises, pep rallies, minor problem-solving and motivational strategizing, Devin prods the Kangaroos into position to beat the haughty Pinewood Panthers in a climactic rematch while also schooling Mirabelle, who has jumped ship to join the rival team.
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes. (soccer glossary) (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8570-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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