Raina Telgemeier

Catrina and her family have moved to the coast of Northern California for the sake of her little sister, Maya, who has cystic fibrosis--and Cat is even less happy about the move when she is told that her new home is haunted, and Maya sets her heart on meeting a ghost.

Ghosts

Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: there are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake -- and her own.

This was my daughter’s pick for our family book club. It was such a cute read full of some pretty heavy hitting topics. Ghosts grappled with generational family dynamics, morality, coming of age, and rich cultural traditions while being easily digestible for ages of the intended audience. 

Nicole Neuman

Sarah Sammis

Why was it set at a mission? 

http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/...

Jeannette Ordas

Enjoyable, but missing the emotional depth of Smile. The illustrations, particularly of the party scenes, were great!

Stef

My first time read GN from Raina and I really love this one. I love the culture story of the day of the died "the Día de los Muertos". The sister-relationship between Catrina and her sister Maya, really extreamly heart-warming also, the message of the story that tell childern the fear of the died and the courage to fight the fear. 

"Do you remember being born?No. Dying's the same. One minute I was me, The next minute I was still me, but like this."

I’m a sucker for a story about sisters, siblings in general, and this was a sweet heartwarming story with another thing I love: ghosts. It’s a great spooky read, looking forward to adding it to my fall rereads next year! 

Floofyflower

The Hissing Saint

This was a super quick read for me and I loved it! Amazing sketches full of colour and an engaging light story!

grace

reading the books i wanted to when i was younger😁

Maggie Gordon

Raina Telgemeier has been the queen of nostalgia so far, with her two autobiographies and retellings of the Babysitter's Club. Ghosts, on the other hand, is a contemporary story that has nothing to do with an existing franchise or her own life. It's a bittersweet tale about two sisters, and one that approaches a topic I haven't seen all that often in children's literature: how do siblings cope when one has a potentially fatal illness? 

Catrina and her family have just moved to Bahía de la Luna because her little sister Maya has cystic fibrosis and will supposedly be helped by the weather in the area. Catrina is angry about losing her friends, but she loves her younger sibling and wants Maya to be as healthy and happy as possible. Shortly after moving, however, Maya has an incident that lands her in the hospital.

This incident just so happens to involve ghosts. Bahía de la Luna is a haunted town, a place where spirits find it easier to exist. This is no secret to the inhabitants of the city, and their Day of the Dead celebrations are quite unique because of their honoured visitors. 

The rest of the story deals with the repercussions of Maya's illness as Catrina tries to make a life for herself in this new town and confront her fears about her sister's mortality. It's a soft, quiet tale, illustrated with Telgemeier's usual energy and buoyancy (which is an interesting combo!). 

I should note that I have seen some people criticize the portrayals of the Day of the Dead celebration in this book. Telgemeier is not Mexican, though the characters she is about writing are. I do not know much about the spiritual background of this holiday, though I assumed the book did not represent things entirely accurately given the fact that this was a town where ghosts really existed. In the end, I am certainly not in a position to make a judgement call on whether the book is a respectful representation of the Dead of the Day. I bring it up as a warning that it is an issue to think about, particularly given the fact that this story is targeted at children.

Mariyah

Tiffany Robinson

I really enjoyed this story and the artwork was great.

Yoomi

I will read anything Raina writes. She has a way of writing joyful but thoughtful stories.

I want to thank Scholastic for providing the ARC. This book will be published in September. I plan on reading it a couple more times before then.

Kath Lau

This was a very heartfelt and moving read! Yes, there were some inaccuracy with the "Dia de los Muertos" tradition but the author mentioned that she experienced the annual celebration in San Francisco during the course of writing this book. So I think she mostly based the story/illustrations on her experience. This book actually made me more interested to read more about the Mexican tradition. Overall, I enjoyed the story and I loved the illustrations. I also liked the message of this book.

Shawna Gavas

Both educational and visually appealing this was a fantastic read! So happy to have found this author for my daughter to enjoy!

Claire Klein

I kind of hate having to give this book 1 star. I loved Maya and her story but I HATED the ghost part. I don't get it. That book is very specific to 1 culture and I did not enjoy it.

Sarah Willhite

I try to read this every October and this year was no exception. This is such a comfort read. I love the representation for Cystic Fibrosis and all the in between. It is such a cute middle grade that I absolutely love and keep it close to my heart. I first read this when I was 7 or 8 and I am so glad I did to just develop a love for this book. I am looking forward to reading it again next October!!


Laura

I'm not really a graphic novel fan. As much as I love art and animation and all that, graphic novels never really caught my eye. Maybe it's because graphic novel art reminds me a lot of the new Cartoon Network art, which is kind of unappealing to me. Also, a lot of graphic novels just kind of blend together and none of them stand out when I browse for books at my local library. 

But this month I read not one but two graphic novels. And I remembered another reason why I don't usually read graphic novels, but I'll get to that in a second. This is the first, which I picked up on a whim and also because, as I think I mentioned before, I really enjoy Raina Telgemeier's work. She's one of the few middle grade writers that have managed to hold my interest, and I find her art style unique and pleasant for a graphic novel. I especially like her memoirs, though I did also enjoy Drama, her first middle grade straight up novel. 

So with all that in mind I picked up Ghosts. I was intrigued by this book when it first came out in the September of last year, but then got distracted by other books that came out around that time, like A Gentleman in Moscow and Crooked Kingdom. I liked the fact that it was about a little girl with cystic fibrosis and her older sister dealing with the very real possibility that her sister will not live very long. I've never read a book that had a girl with cystic fibrosis in it, though I was aware of its existence, and really liked that representation. I also liked the Mexican cultural elements. Latin, especially Mexican, culture is so vibrant and colorful and quite interesting. Also, the Day of the Dead is easily one of the most interesting holidays out there, and I was a little in love with the Northern California town she created to set her story in- I'd never live in California, but if I had to, it'd be to there. Or San Francisco. Either one. 

Continue reading this review on my blog here: http://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/20...

Caitlin Berger

Wow! I just read this in one sitting. I don’t read as many graphic novels as I want, and each time I do read one, I fall in love with the genre all over again. This story was beautifully told and drawn. It reminded me of Coco, my favourite movie. What a joy to read!! Highly recommend no matter your age.

Bryan Alexander

Ghosts is an imaginative, very sweet, and very sad graphic novel. 

The story focuses on two young sisters whose parents have moved them to a new home. The eldest, Cat, is unhappy for many reasons, including concern for her younger sibling, Maya, who is afflicted by cystic fibrosis. Their new town offers the challenges young adult stories usually focus on - friends, romance, school, family - but is also well stocked with ghosts. 

So Ghosts begins as a light horror novel (no gore, just nerves), then concludes as a fantasy.

On the one hand it's a delightful romp. Raina Telgemeier's energetic art is filled with motion and colorful contrasts. The ghosts are shy, then playful. And Maya is a dynamo of optimism and activity. 

On the other hand Ghosts contains a core of deep, shattering sadness, as it ultimately about death. We learn that the heroes' family is marked by an absent grandmother, and the desire to reconnect with her constitutes one quiet plotline. The major narrative is based on Maya's doom. Cat's family all know that Maya will die young, after an increasingly constricted life, and Telgemeier carefully doles out enough signs of this to underscore the primal dread of ghosts - not as revenants for the living, but as reminders of extinction - without overwhelming a persistent delight in living. As we learn more about the town and see more of its pleasures (food, vistas, friends) Maya gets weaker. As the novel's months progress, her abilities are progressively limited. Meanwhile, Cat tentatively makes friends and falls in love. These mirrored arcs are the novel's emotional core. 

Its manic conclusion, complete with playful ghosts, new friends, the sisters bonding, and the appearance of a mysterious meal (from the grandmother via a cat?) is build upon that dark sense of forthcoming mortality. The last few pages see the sister's increasingly accept Maya's demise, and even set up an ectoplasmic friend for her following her death.

If I had read this as a teenager I think I might have enjoyed the fantasy, or found it too sweet. Now, as a parent of adult children, reading Ghosts brought me nearly to tears.

I will look for more Raina Telgemeier.

Recommended.

From Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile, Drama, and Sisters! Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake - and her own. Raina Telgemeier has masterfully created a moving and insightful story about the power of family and friendship, and how it gives us the courage to do what we never thought possible.

Ghosts

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