When Travis moves to a different part of town, he has to leave all of his friends behind. He's brand new, and his new neighborhood is so creepily perfect it reminds him of Camazotz. Just when he thinks things couldn't get any worse, he finds out that the library, his one remaining place of refuge, is closing. In his journey to save the library, he comes across:a semi-famous authorthe ghost of a famous authorSteinbeck's characters come to lifeAnd much more! As a lover of Steinbeck, this book intrigued me, and the writing was fantastic. Travis had some really profound things to say and I felt like I was there with Travis in all his adventures. This hard-to-classify story manages to convey all of the reasons why reading is so incredibly necessary to me, along with stuff like, you know, eating & breathing. I wish I could travel back in time to when I was in about fifth grade & give it to myself, because I would've been completely inspired by it - & the thing is, I don't know any kids similar enough to myself as I was then to give it to now: it's only going to resonate with a very specific type of juvenile reader. It's a middle-grade story that's essentially a love letter to John Steinbeck, for crying out loud. Most high schoolers I know moan about his stupid, boring books - the middle school kid who really enjoy his works is a bit of a rare bird. I read "The Grapes of Wrath" for the first time in the sixth grade (a high-school-aged babysitter left her copy at our house, so I picked it up as I'd just finished my own book), & it stayed with me way more than anything else I read that year.Middle schooler Travis has lived his whole life in Salinas, California, the hometown of famed author John Steinbeck, & he's always been happy there...until lately. His parents both graduated from college & got better jobs, & now they've moved to a brand-new (much bigger, nicer) house in a brand-new neighborhood. There's a pool, he's made a great new friend in a kid his age named Hilario, his family's much better off financially - so why does he miss his old life so much & feel like he's on another planet? The only place he feels truly connected to how things used to be is the public library, where his favorite librarian always has something new & wonderful to read. But then he hears that funding shortages may cause the library to have to close, & then he starts seeing what he could swear are characters from several of Steinbeck's stories...A little bit personal growth, a little bit ghost story, & a lot about the myriad joys reading a good story can bring. I picked this up on a whim (at my local branch library) because of the title, & now I'm planning to read all of the author's other works.
Do You like book Steinbeck's Ghost (2008)?
A kid's book set in Steinbeck's hometown of Salinas. Reads like bad freshman creative writing.
—deliphone
California history comes alive. Saving a library is ALWAYS a good thing
—BuffyVsFaith
Another fun book... Again I would follow this author
—Shamece
Some parts were confusing but overall great story!
—Hangla
