July 1, 2024
Grades 4-7 Blue and their faithful friend Hershel are outcasts at school. Blue in particular is bullied on the regular for their used clothes and the fact that they and their single mother are poor. During the latest traumatizing bullying experience, the bullies tell Blue and Hershel about the Amberline treasure located somewhere in the school, and the two friends sneak into school after hours to search for it. There they run into the groundskeeper, Madison, who is also on the hunt for the treasure, and a big crowd of ghosts warning them, ""Stay away or be consumed by the cursed treasure!"" Ghostly high jinks, a hidden-treasure mystery plot, and lots of comical banter and slapstick make this an extremely fun read, but that fun is nicely balanced by themes of income inequality, greed, and the importance of found family and good friends. Cartoonish artwork, especially for the wide variety of eerie blue ghosts, escalates the madcap antics with exaggerated facial expressions and body language. Middle-graders who are after gentle scares and ample comedy will appreciate this.
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September 1, 2024
Gr 5-8-What kid hasn't thought about their school being haunted? Middle schoolers Blue and Herschel break into their school at night, alongside a frightened new janitor, in the hopes of finding a treasure that might solve their financial issues and help with being bullied at school. What they get instead is a case of the heebie jeebies as they battle to solve the mysteries of the haunted ghosts that live within the school's walls. Teaming up, the two friends bond with the new janitor, Madison, over their haunted adventures. Taking place over the course of one night, Erman and Criswell's collaboration offers plenty of action. The ghostly figures, including one that can remove his head and a young girl with exposed brains, seem more kind than scary when the layers are peeled back to reveal how they came to be trapped in the ghostly realm. The result is a gentle story with problem-solving, adventure, teamwork, and friendship at its heart. With the school as a backdrop, the backstories of the ghosts solidly ground the graphic novel and allow Blue, Herschel, and Madison to shine. Readers will root for these characters to triumph over evil, bullies, and bad ghosts. VERDICT This middle grade graphic novel with heaping amounts of humor and heart gives readers what they want.-Alicia Abdul
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 1, 2024
A down-on-their-luck sixth grader takes a chance in this graphic novel about a haunted school and buried gold. Sixth-grader Bluejay "Blue" Evers wouldn't call themselves lucky. They're the child of a single mother, wear secondhand clothes, and live close to the train tracks, which makes them a target of three bullies at their school: Chad, Don, and Paloma. They trick Blue into undertaking a quest for the legendary Amberline Treasure, said to have been buried under the Amberline school by its corrupt founder, Edwin Amberline, and surrounded by ghosts: "Edwin Amberline will get you!" the bullies say. In the hopes that the treasure will change their life, Blue enlists the help of their best friend, Hersch Pepperman, to sneak into school after-hours and search for it. Their prospects look bleak at first, especially after they fall victim to another prank, but Blue and Hersch gain ground after teaming up with the school's groundskeeper, Madison Beaker, who's a descendant of Edwin Amberline. However, the closer Blue gets to the riches they'd always dreamed of, the greater the risk of their encountering a very real ghost and losing what's priceless to them. Writer Erman and artist Criswell's story shines in the charming friendship between the main characters. Blue and Hersch's conversations about curses, video games, and socioeconomic status are amusing and authentic. In a dialogue about their friendship, Blue, after accepting Hersch's label as his "cool sidekick," asks why their peers don't think they're cool, too; Hersch's delightful response: "I guess I'm just a special little boy." Visually, the novel's style is reminiscent of a classic Sunday comic strip, with simple, brightly colored characters and backgrounds. The panel arrangement is easy to follow and adds visual interest to action-oriented scenes to great effect--for example, the panel lines become more geometric and jagged when Hersch fights off bullies while pretending to be his favorite video game character, Cranky the Quillhog. Friendship is the real treasure in this spooky and vividly illustrated adventure.
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