Kaz hasn't mastered a few key ghost skills, like passing through walls and wailing - and then he's whisked away and separated from his family, winding up in a public library/family home. He meets Claire, the librarian's granddaughter, and together they search for other ghosts, and solve a mystery.

#2 The Ghost in the Attic

See also: Desmond Cole, Ghost Patrol ( )

I have always love ghost stories, especially ones that make you laugh. This is the perfect children's ghost story. Filled with mystery, friendship, and family it teaches readers to be accepting of those around you and to cherish your families because they could be gone one day.

Kaz, a young ghost, has lost his home and family the same day. He lands in a library where he meets Claire, a human girl, who can see him. There seems to be a ghost haunting the library but neither can see this ghost. Now they must solve the mystery of the ghost and why they cannot see it.

I enjoyed this story. The world-building is good and gives enough of the main characters pasts that you want to know more about them. I hope that Kaz can find his family. The illustrations are good. This is a good book for early readers who like mysteries. ( )

Butler, D. H. (2014). The Haunted Library. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

This is the first in a cute series about a young ghost boy named Kaz who is separated from his family when their old haunt is destroyed and a gust of wind carries him away. He finds a new haunt, a library, and meets a girl named Claire who loves mysteries. Together they try to solve the mystery of the ghost in the library who is scaring the patrons.

This book is heavy on text with a mix of black and white illustrations throughout. It's broken into short chapters and has simple sentence structure and words, with a mix of more complex words and sentences. This would be a good book for readers who are already familiar with reading chapter books but are not ready yet for longer, more complex books.

The story itself is cute and fun with a little mystery to keep the reader guessing. It's a good first book in a series and sets up the central conflict, which is Kaz trying to find and be reunited with his family. Kaz also has an interesting flaw that becomes a problem throughout: he doesn't like passing through walls, a basic skill all ghosts are supposed to have.

The illustrations are cute and cartoonish. For readers who enjoy the TV series Gravity Falls, this is very similar both artistically and content-wise. ( )

"When ghost boy Kaz's haunt is torn down and he is separated from his ghost family, he meets a real girl named Claire, who lives above the town library with her parents and her grandmother. Claire has a special ability to see ghosts when other humans cannot and she and Kaz quickly form a friendship."--Amazon website. ( )