“Jasmine is haunted” Mark Oshiro. Starscape (Tom Doherty Associates/Tor Publishing Group.) To be published October 1, 2024.
Reviewed by Alma Ramos-McDermott
Category: Middle school
Rating: 5 stars
Twelve-year-old Jasmine has been haunted since she was eight, the year her father died. For four years, she and her mom moved from place to place as ghost noises became too much for the neighbors. In the beginning, her mom used to listen to her fears about the ghost but now her mom won’t talk about it. Jasmine kept her fears and feelings bottled up, never able to make friends, as they never seemed to settle down.
A month into 8th grade Jasmine starts another new school, where she meets Bea and Jorge in the school’s GSA club. She soon finds out Bea is a ghost hunter, and Jorge tags along trying to get over his fear of ghosts. Together, they offer to help her find out why a ghost has been haunting her and why. Jasmine is fearful of ridicule, but soon gains acceptance and finds herself with friends for the first time in years.
As the trio work together Jasmine finds herself dealing with more than one ghost as they’re noisily invading her home and school, breaking and throwing things. It isn’t until her mother relents and calls her aunt to step in to help them that Jasmine finally learns her family history and the reason ghosts are attracted to her. Jasmin is haunted, but the past holds the key to her present.
From its first pages, middle grade readers will be engrossed in Jasmine’s dilemma as its realistic characters engage, entertain, and educate.
Recommended for ages 12-15.
Note: This review was originally posted in You decide: Should I read it or not?
Reproduced here as a courtesy of Alma Ramos-McDermott.
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