Parents' Guide to

Ghosts

By Michael Berry, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Insightful, moving graphic novel of sisters facing fears.

Book Raina Telgemeier Fantasy 2016
Ghosts Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

Ross N.
Ross N. Adult
March 30, 2018
age 10+

Review of Ghost

Makenna Lynn Gordon ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary In Ghost, the primary characters are Cat and Mya and the setting is in a California. It seems like a smaller town. The rising action is Cat meets some ghost and it caused mya to get heart. The climax is that later on in the book she likes the ghost, and enjoys being around them. My claim is that in the book Ghost, the theme is yin and yang. I think this because in the beginning of the book they have to move and Cat wasn't too happy about it. Also, her sister Mya has trouble staying healthy. And they met some bad ghost and she had more trouble to stay healthy because of meeting that ghost. When she was around the ghost, the ghost would spin her around and it caused her to cough. However, towards the end of the book Cat meets nice ghosts and she enjoys it. Some people might think the theme is individual versus culture. This is because in the story there are some people that might think the ghosts are good but she was staying away from them as that's what she believed. However, yin and yang means that with good things come bad things. The reason why I think that is there's more bad and good events then standing up for herself in the book. My review I think the book ghost taught you that life can be good and bad. I really think the author put a lot of effort and thought into it because it is detailed and very long, for example Raina Telgemeier renamed a restaurant the name Double Back Burger and there’s a burger place in real life called In & Out Burger. Do you see the resemblance? I enjoyed this book a lot it was really great.

This title has:

Great messages
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What's the Story?

At the beginning of GHOSTS, Catrina's family moves to the coast of Northern California. The cool, wet air in Bahia de la Luna is good for her sister Maya's cystic fibrosis, but Catrina is unhappy and misses her friends. The town seems creepy, especially once a neighbor boy, Carlos, starts telling the sisters about the ghosts that haunt the place. Maya is excited by the thought of meeting a ghost, but Catrina grows increasingly anxious and sad. In the wake of a medical emergency, Catrina must decide how to face her fear of mortality, for Maya's sake and her own.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (21 ):

With a light touch and a sensitive ear, this absorbing graphic novel explores issues of mortality and the possibility of life after death. Ghosts shows two sisters' different reactions to the supernatural, and the feelings of both girls are treated with respect. Author-illustrator Raina Telgemeier works her illustrative magic on both the fantastic and the mundane aspects of her story, rooting the spectral antics in a realistic setting that's both mysterious and inviting.

Ghosts advocates living life to the fullest, no matter what lies beyond it, and young readers are likely to respond well to the book's generous heart and true-to-life characters.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can about how the characters in Ghosts deal with the notion of death. How do holidays like the Mexican Day of the Dead help people cope with the loss of their loved ones?

  • What kinds of changes do families make when one of the members faces a chronic illness? What strategies do the characters in Ghosts employ to help Maya stay well with her cystic fibrosis?

  • How do various religions and cultures view the possibility of an afterlife? How do the various characters in Ghosts react to the notion of ghosts?

Book Details

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