Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Summary from Goodreads:

Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake - and her own.

Review:

This was another gem by Raina Telgemeier. She always writes such believable, true-to-heart, upbeat stories. Her colored illustrations always make these books fast and enjoyable to read. And Ghosts did not disappoint.

That being said, this one was darker and it went a supernatural route too. I’m used to all these graphic novels being contemporary. Also, instead of being the standard Halloween story I was expecting, it was all about ghosts in the Mexican culture and Dia de los Muertos. It was so nice to get a piece of a culture I’m not used to in YA. It was a refreshing view on ghosts and why spirits might come back.

I like that it wasn’t a question; ghosts were most definitiely real in this town. It was refreshing for this to be true and understood so quickly, though Maya took a little convincing. I also liked the way the ghosts looked (more like skeletons).

This didn’t veer too far from the Telgemeier path because a lot of this story still revolved around family. The sisters had a very believable relationship. They had all the normal sister fights, but underneath it all was the sister’s sickness, so I felt like Maya never got too mad at her. I also think because of this illness, Maya was a little less likely to jump on the ghost bandwagon. She wanted to stay away from the dead. And vice versa, her sister was fascinated by it, and loved the idea of ghosts coming back to celebrate with loved ones. There was a lot of metaphor here.

Also, it was just so pretty to look at. The colors, the celebrations, the costumes, and the sea were all so stunning to look at. And like Raina’s past books, the story would not be so strong if not for these beautiful pictures. There was a nice balance between darkness and light, colorful and sad, and happy and heart wrenching.

I loved learning about this holiday. I loved seeing death and ghosts in such a different way than I’m used to. The family drama still stood strong, and I was just as sucked in for this book as I was before in Raina’s other graphic novels. There was a cute, little romance too. All in all, this was all I wanted it to be. I give it a 10/10.