I have mentioned before the fun thing about working in a bookstore is that you never know what you will find to read. I was waiting for a report to send (takes about 15 minutes) and instead of trying to find actual work, I picked up a book on our return shelf (sadly, yes unsold books must go back to the vendors) and in that 15 minutes I was over half way through Graveyard Shakes by Laura Terry.
My first thought was, “I like these ghosts. They are funny. Naughty. But funny.” I found the one that pulled the head off another ghost funny as heck. Then, I quickly learned they are not nice ghosts. But there is a Casper-like ghost, Little Ghost, who is friendly. But there is also a mad scientist, a dead-son and two sisters who are typical sisters (the older, wiser, lovely big sister and the sloppy, loud, pain-in-the-but little sister. Guess which one I am?)
The story is reminiscent of many sister stories and feels like Telgemeier, Hale and Libenson to name a few authors. A few concepts are a bit mature, but not over the head of the kids aimed at (8 to 10) but a sensitive younger child might think things too much (SPOILER: The mad scientist/father is killing children to keep his own son alive). The ghost’s antics might be amusing to many but again, very sensitive children might not like the fact the ghosts are trying to harm the sisters and Little Ghost.
To be honest, I hope this is not a series. It has a nice ending (even if there is one big glaring hole that should have been filled) that if a book two happened it might lose the vibe of this one. However, it does lend itself to sequels.