Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fantasy-mystery stars cool ghost-wielding Lipan Apache teen.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In ELATSOE, 17-year-old Ellie's ghost hound Kirby rushes out of her room, scared and anxious. That's how she knows something bad has happened to someone in the family. It's her cousin Trevor, found dead in a car wreck in another part of Texas. In a dream that night Trevor visits her and tells her his death was no accident, that the man who killed him is Abe Allerton from the town of Willowbee, and he needs Ellie's help to protect his wife and their baby. Ellie promises to protect them, and on her way to the funeral, stops in front of Abe Allerton's house -- not house, mansion. It's a mansion surrounded by greenery and mushrooms in the middle of the desert. In fact, the whole town of Willowbee is just as lush and mysterious and just as full of dark secrets.
Is It Any Good?
This debut is full of surprises: a ghost-summoning teen who embraces her family's Lipan Apache stories, an X-Files-style eerie town, a murder to solve, and vampires thrown in for good measure. But the vampires and fairies and ghosts and other creatures are just a part of this alternative present-day rural Texas. Like the main character Ellie's asexuality, they just are and it's not a big deal. Or at least Ellie's ghost-summoning ability isn't until she stretches her powers past the bounds of the known. What will she need to do to defeat the man she knows murdered her cousin? What is she willing to do? This time the mystery isn't whodunit -- we learn this in Chapter 2. But who is this Dr. Allerton, why is the Texas town of Willowbee so darn green, and -- just as importantly -- how can they keep her cousin Trevor's vengeful ghost from waking and making matters infinitely worse?
While each scene could have had more detail and polish, especially when Ellie faces and wields her ghosts, Elatsoe is tied together so beautifully with the stories of Ellie's "Six-Great" -- or her six-great-grandmother who passed on her gift for wrangling spirits. It's so easy to see confident and daring Ellie in Six-Great and imagine what Ellie will become. And, with equal excitement, readers can imagine all the amazing places debut author Darcie Little Badger will take us next.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Ellie's family history in Elatsoe. How are the stories of her six-great-grandmother an inspiration for her in the present? What does it mean to share her ancestor's gift? How far back do you trace your own family? What traits and family stories do you share?
In Chapter 7, why does Ellie insist on getting a receipt at the fossil museum and store? How many times do you think she's faced similar prejudices? What does her father tell her to do about it? Is her father always right?
What is the difference between justice and vengeance? How does choosing justice over vengeance show Ellie's integrity?
Would you like Ellie's gift? If so, what ghosts would you want around you?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Rovina Cai
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Animals ( Wild Animals )
- Character Strengths : Courage , Integrity , Self-control , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Levine Querido
- Publication date : August 25, 2020
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 18
- Number of pages : 368
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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