June 26, 2012

Summer Essentials Book Review: The Girls' Ghost Hunting Guide

Sourcebooks contacted me awhile back with a fun Summer Essentials pack - to help middle grade readers have the ultimate summer!  One book was The Girls' Ghost Hunting Guide.  My daughter and I love shows like Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters.  We watch them all the time, so I knew we had to check this book out.


Title: The Girls' Ghost Hunting Guide
Author: Stacey Graham
What was that noise? The cat? The wind? Little brother stealing a peek at your diary?Or is it a ghost?The Girls' Ghost Hunting Guide will help you identify the creepy crawlers from the spooky spirits, the howling winds fromt he haunting phantoms. And with this guide you can learn from real experts how to investigate and contact your very own ghosts!Everything a girl needs for a night full of fun, including:• Spooky urban legends to set the mood• Must-have stuff for your ghost hunting kit• Pointers for leading the best-ever ghost hunt• Tips for writing your own ghost• With fun quizzes, games, recipes, and more!So gather your friends if they are brave enough, grab a flashlight, and go investigate!


My Review
My fear when I first got this book was that it would be too cutesy and not really tell the girls anything.  I was very happy to find out that wasn't the case at all.  This book would be great for a girl serious on ghost hunting.  


The first chapter looks at the history of ghost hunting and specific hauntings which I found very interesting.  I liked that this was included because I think if a girl (or anyone) wanting to ghost hunt should know the past.  From that chapter it looked at animals and ghosts.  Very cool chapter since I have a dog and cat, and I always wonder if they are "seeing" things.  My sister was convinced her cat saw a ghost!  I also liked the chapter on ghost parties because it wasn't about cute cupcakes to serve. Instead it was about things to do at a party to make it a true ghost party! Very fun.


From there it went into how to put together a team, what you need to ghost hunt and how to do the actual ghost hunt.  All of it was good direct information that wasn't dumbed down or made to be all girly. It went into things like what to look for on the hunt like sounds, what an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) is and how to record your evidence. Very well done!  I could definitely see a girl using this information to go on an actual hunt.


What was also fun about the book was the pieces scattered throughout.  There were bios of women ghost hunters.  I liked those because all of the shows I watch with ghost hunters have girls but NEVER has the lead hunter.  Seeing some of the women in ghost hunting was great.  There was also pieces about urban legends, popular ghost sightings and quizzes about hunting.  


Final Thought: Great guide for future hunters
Best stick-with-you image:  How do to some of the party tricks
Best for readers who: Want to ghost hunt!
Best for ages: 9-13


For the guys? They could definitely learn from it, but would they even try with it's title??????


Want to know more:
 Check out Stacey’s website for more information: http://www.girlsghosthuntingguide.com/
And a  a downloadable guide from Sourcebooks’ Educator’s Page.

1 comment:

  1. I used to LOVE books like these when I was a kid. Then again, I used to love ghost stories in general, before I became a fraidy-cat (meow). Thanks for the review--how did the move go?

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