Review by Booklist Review
After Adéle sees her first ghost, she's let in on a family secret: women in her family are often mediums. Her grandmother despises the "gift" and does everything she can to keep ghosts out of her life, but Adéle is curious, especially when one ghost, Jules, keeps trying to get her help to stop an avaricious real estate developer. The issue hits close to home--her gran is active in a neighborhood group trying to stop the construction of luxury condos--and soon Adéle is helping Jules with his plan, much to the chagrin of Gran. Escabasse's detailed, deeply expressive artwork steals the show, with terrifically dynamic and varied character designs and an evocative sense of place in the snowy, modest Montreal neighborhood. World building is wryly integrated into the plot, and a teensy connection to Escabesse's Witches of Brooklyn neatly establishes the otherwise-unrelated stories in the same universe. While the resolution is a bit too tidy, tweens who like ghost stories grounded in real-life concerns will likely get a kick out of it.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Escabasse (the Witches of Brooklyn series) suffuses this graphic novel tale of typical tween angst with a magical realism twist. Young Adèle is overwhelmed enough dealing with acne, awkwardness, and the start of her first period. But with her maturation comes an additional wrinkle: Adèle can now see ghosts. Over winter break, which she had hoped would be quiet and uneventful, Adèle meets a ghost hacker and persistent gentleman, whom she dubs Mustache Ghost. Her new acquaintance reveals that he belongs to a spectral club aiming to protect Montreal against ruthless developers-- a principle that Adèle's living grandmother also champions--and embroils Adèle in his plight. Adèle's sarcastic yet kindhearted narration renders her struggles to balance her new abilities and the everyday challenges of growing up with perceptive relatability. Ghost characters are easily distinguishable in Escabasse's expressive artwork, which depicts them in a soft palette of pinks and greens and adds a touch of surreality to the grounded metropolitan setting. In this empowering and fanciful ghost story, the creator tackles issues such as gentrification, the afterlife, and cultural traditions surrounding menstruation. Ages 8--12. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5--8--Esteemed graphic novelist Escabasse brings readers along a ride from Brooklyn to Montreal through the story of a young girl named Adéle who is embracing her recently discovered abilities, despite familial pressure to ignore them. During winter break, Adéle is surprised to learn she can see and communicate with ghosts. It's an ability passed down to the women of her family when a young woman gets her period. Though Adéle's grandmother is adamant that she learns how to keep ghosts away, Adéle chooses to try and help a ghost that has asked for her aid. With lots of humor and a smattering of adventure and even romance, Escabasse's latest supernatural tale will delight young readers. Vibrant artwork with pops of color, expressive characters, and beautiful scenic panels guarantee this book will be as much of a hit as Escabasse's popular graphic novel, Witches of Brooklyn. VERDICT Every library that already owns Escabasse's previous work will want to add this to their shelves.--Esther Keller
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Review by Horn Book Review
Adele learns she is a medium -- an inherited gift that emerges along with her first period -- in this spirited graphic novel set in Montreal over the protagonist's winter break. Her grandmother can also see and speak to ghosts but feels the "family gift" is a burden and discourages Adele from engaging with the supernatural. The girl, curious and open, is not deterred and soon befriends ghosts. It turns out that both humans and former humans are concerned with gentrification -- there are activist groups (people- and ghost-led) working to protect the neighborhood from a shady developer. When her grandmother's group gets blamed for property damage perpetrated by a group of radical ghosts, Adele and a ghost-hacker friend try to make things right. Well-paced panels keep the energetic narrative moving at a speedy clip, and elements of world-building are embedded into dialogue without overexplanation. The frigid city setting is attractively delineated through clean black lines and lots of snow, condensation, and winter gear. Lighter pastel hues clearly separate the spirit from the human world. Disagreements about activist strategy and movement-building ring true, as do the characters' intergenerational and cross-realm insights. A smart fantasy firmly grounded in real-world issues. Elisa GallSeptember/October 2024 p.73 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
