ghosts – For the love of Libros

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate! 👻

Is there a better way to wrap up the month than with a perfectly spooky and fun book review for our #motherdaughterreviews

Title: City of Ghosts
Author: Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publish Date: August 28, 2018
Page Length: 320
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Fiction
Recommended reading age: Middle Grade

Summary:

Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

Her review:

City of Ghosts has to be one of my favorite books of all time. It has action, friendships, haunted places, and bone-chilling spirits – just what a late night read should have. My favorite character was Jacob, who is Cass’s best friend and loyal companion. His mood and his humor during the story, was a great part, and Cassidy couldn’t have gotten to where she is without him. My favorite part in the story was the end, when the store clerk took a picture of Cass and Jacob with Cass’s camera. This book is truly awesome.

My review:

This was such a great book. I have to say it had me hooked and it was hard to put down. I would have loved having a book like this when I was my daughter’s age.

The setting in Edinburgh was perfect. This makes me want to travel to Scotland even more.

The author used real locations to set the stage for the plot. With a historically haunted city, it was easy to imagine this actually happening. I liked the concept of the Veil as the plce where ghosts usually live.

I really enjoyed the main character Cassidy and her bff Jacob, their banter was fun, their friendship was lovely.

The plot was complex enough for the audience without being predictable. It surprised me with some unexpected twists.

I liked that it was spooky enough to keep you in the mood, having some scary situations but without getting turned off.

This is the first book of a series, I don’t always feel like I want to continue some of the MG books I read, but this one I definitely will.

This was a perfect read to finish up #spooktober

I think this one is great option for ages 9-13, but honestly even if older, this book is just great for anyone.

Thanks for reading our review. We hope you can join us with this book and others in the following months!

Hello! Here we are just in time for Halloween with our review of Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega. We chose this book for our #spooktober read and also it was part of our Hispanic Heritage month selection.

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Originally published: April 7, 2020

Summary:

Twelve year old Lucely Luna’s home can sometimes feel a bit crowded. Her family is well, large, but they have one thing in particular, most of her extended family members are ghosts and they live as fireflies (cocuyos) in a tree in her backyard and only she can see them. When strange things start happening to her ghost relatives she gets help from her wannabe witch BFF Syd. They look for ideas in Syd’s grandmothers bookcase and find a secret room with a Book of spells. But their spell casting spells trouble for the duo, as they find themselves being chased by scary spirits. Now they have to race to find a counter spell before Halloween night when the whole town will be overrun by evil spirits.

*I couldn’t help snap a picture of the beautiful cover of this book with a delicious slice of upside down pineapple cake.*

Her review:

Ghost Squad is one of my most favorite books. It teaches you about the love of family and friends and to face your fears. My favorite characters are Lucely, Syd, and Babette. I like Lucely and Syd because they are brave and determined. I like Babette because, who wouldn’t like Babette? I love Ghost Squad!

My review:

Three things drew me to this book before reading it, first was Lucely’s Dominican heritage, as a Dominican myself I look for characters that reflect my kids heritage for them to read. Second was that it takes place in St. Augustine, Florida one of my favorite places to visit. And third were the ghosts, perfectly spooky fun.

If I can describe this book it would be a mashup between Hocus Pocus and The Goonies, although I’ve seen it also being compared to Coco too which is also a fair assessment. I loved the pop culture references specially with the cats names after the Goonies, I’m a huge Goonies fan so I really loved that.

Lucely our main character is a smart and kind girl trying to help her dad keep his Ghost tour business open and also trying to find a way to help her ghost relatives stay visible when strange things start happening to them. Her love for her family is in full display throughout the book. Her BFF Syd is the only one who knows her family secret and is ready to step up and even get into trouble and danger to help Lucely. A true friend in every sense. Of course the girls make a huge mistake by casting an evil spell, so together they work on trying to fix their mess.

I really enjoyed the character Babette, Syd’s grandmother who they think may be a witch. When she finds out the trouble the girls are in, she quickly takes charge and helps the girls become ghost hunters. The book features many scenes which are spooky enough without being too scary, each of the problems the girls face have a quick resolution which at times made it seemed rushed or “too easy” for me, but then again with this being a MG I like the fact that it did not overly complicate the problems and the plot line moved smoothly.

*Ghost Squad inspired book marks my* *daughter made, one with a ghost and Chunk the cat, the second one with Lucely and Chunk.*

Overall I enjoyed reading this book, it has a few Dominican folklore and cuisine references that are great to have, features minority main characters which is fantastic, a great old colonial town that invites you to learn more about and explore, and just enough spookiness for this time of year.

One last thought. If when you read the first chapter you wondered if the Dominican food Lucely’s dad is making for breakfast is as good as it sounds, I have to say its better. This whole scene made my mouth water and crave for my home country’s food so so much.

If you’ve read this book already let us know what you thought about it. If not, what are you waiting for?

For our next book we will be reviewing a graphic Novel for the first time. Graphic novels are quickly becoming very popular and are a great resource for reluctant readers. We chose New Kid by Jerry Craft, I hope you can read along and share your thoughts with us next month.

Category: ghosts

#MDR City of Ghosts

#MDR Ghost Squad