I had been interested in Taxi Ghost by Sophie Escabasse for a while. I lost my online reader copy, so I went to the library instead. It still looked interesting, but also looking more closely at the cover I thought it also looked like it was going to be an odd book. The ghosts are in the car, the main character out front, standing there like she’s the best driver in the world, and ready for adventures.
Well it turns out that she might not be the best driver, as the Ghost Taxi aspect is a very small part of the story (and she is twelve), but she might be one of the best Ghost Talkers. When Adaele turns 12, she starts that monthly cycle. (This is important so wait…) When she is in the car with her sister, she hears voices. Well, it wasn’t Helen, so what was it? Come to find out, it’s a handful of old people who just happen to be ghosts. Now, come to find out, Helen believes her (how many big sisters would have done that?) because not only does the medium gig start when you start, it seems that the talent skipped Helen and their mom, but their grandmother would have been one heck of a medium if she had let the ghosts in. Literally. You see, Grandma wants nothing to do with them. She has wards to keep them out of the apartment and the store cat helps as well. Now this is fine, except Adaele learns there is more than meets the eye to ghosts and their story. But the only time we hear about the Ghost Taxi is mostly as an explanation to why they were in the cab, and it really doesn’t affect the plot at all.
The plot is more about the gentrification of the community, family, friendship, and embracing who you are, and even a little about death. It is therefore no different from any other coming of age story, but it has ghosts, is funny and just feels new and fresh. Things are not WOW but there is a little bit of action to keep you wondering and a little thrilling. And all of that makes the book a four. However, I would have liked to have seen more action with what the ghosts are doing, more taxi driving (there was a lot of potential to use that and still keep the story driving the way it does) and a bit about what the grandmother, her group and the ghosts are doing to a construction site. Therefore, that pops the score down to a 3.5. (Best probably for strong ages 8 to younger 13).