Ghosted by Michael Fry
Published by Clarion on January 19, 2021
ISBN: 9780358269618
Pages: 272
Genres: Humor, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

It is difficult when your best friend dies, but when he reappears as a ghost, that’s when life gets strange and really confusing.  Larry’s best friend, Grimm dies while rescuing a cat in a tree during a lightening storm. Grimm is in limbo and it is up to Larry to figure out how to help him cross over to the other side.  Together, they brainstorm many ideas  on how to get Grimm to transition on.   Would  completing their ‘’Totally To-Do bucket list” that was cut short when Grimm died be the answer?   Is he hanging on due to unfinished business on this list?

The story carries the reader through the various pranks on this list that both boys thought up in happier times.  Some are crazy like taking a bath in spaghetti while others are scary like kissing a girl.  Grimm (in ghost form) encourages, teases and taunts Larry  as he completes the various tasks all alone.   Along the way,  Larry is confronted with dealing with grief, loneliness and courage.  He learns about himself as a person and aspects of Grimm that he was not  aware of when he was alive.  All alone without his best friend,  he learns to make new friends.  Surprisingly, in people he never would have befriended before.

This is a fun story that has illustrations similar to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ books.  It is a book that is good for tweens and boys may identify with the two characters and the pranks they carry out.  It addresses the difficult topic of death of a friend in a light hearted  yet caring  manner.

Amy Tobalske, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook