Kidzworld's Official Blog

This week was all about the spooky, the terrifying and the ghostly. I’ve read tons of books about ghosts, and most aren’t worth remembering. It’s a typical topic, making it hard for authors to put a new spin on it. The Haunting of Derek Stone #4: The Ghost Road by Tony Abbott and Rebel Stone and the Ghost Whisperers by Walter Rouzer were just that–typical. The Ghost Road was decent, assuming you start by reading the other books in the series. It was high-action, but in my opinion it’s a story that is more interesting for boys than girls.

Rebel Stone and the Ghost Whisperers mixed ghosts and aliens, which I’ve never seen before. But the writing sounded amateur. The constant flaws and overuse of metaphors made it hard to read.

Malice, on the other hand, was fantastic. While it wasn’t about ghosts, it was definitely spooky. The story was about a comic book called Malice. Kids who perform a ritual and summon Tall Jake (like Bloody Mary), are stolen from their homes and brought to the dangerous world of Malice–the world inside the comic book. The writing is easy to follow, the characters are relatable and the concept of part-novel, part-comic book is very unique.

Ghostgirl: Homecoming by Tonya Hurley has a good storyline. But there’s a flaw in the presentation. Hurley mentions snippets of the past, but fails to explain them with enough detail for readers who haven’t read the first Ghostgirl book to follow along. If you plan on reading Ghostgirl, start with book one.

The concept is similiar to Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Elsewhere by Gabriel Zeven in that it’s told, at least partly, from the perspective of the deceased.