ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Escabasse, Sophie

Taxi Ghost

224 pp. | Random/RH Graphic | September, 2024 | Trade ISBN 9780593565988 $21.99 | Library ISBN 9780593565995 $24.99 | Paper ISBN 9780593565941 $13.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780593566008 $8.99
(2) 4-6 Color by Kiwi Byrd. Adèle learns she is a medium -- an inherited gift that emerges along with her first period -- in this spirited graphic novel set in Montreal over the protagonist's winter break. Her grandmother can also see and speak to ghosts but feels the "family gift" is a burden and discourages Adèle from engaging with the supernatural. The girl, curious and open, is not deterred and soon befriends ghosts. It turns out that both humans and former humans are concerned with gentrification -- there are activist groups (people- and ghost-led) working to protect the neighborhood from a shady developer. When her grandmother's group gets blamed for property damage perpetrated by a group of radical ghosts, Adèle and a ghost-hacker friend try to make things right. Well-paced panels keep the energetic narrative moving at a speedy clip, and elements of world-building are embedded into dialogue without overexplanation. The frigid city setting is attractively delineated through clean black lines and lots of snow, condensation, and winter gear. Lighter pastel hues clearly separate the spirit from the human world. Disagreements about activist strategy and movement-building ring true, as do the characters' intergenerational and cross-realm insights. A smart fantasy firmly grounded in real-world issues.
Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

RELATED 

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

The Republic of Birds
by Miller, Jessica
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Atlantis
by Mone, Gregory
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

It Doesn't Take a Genius
by Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
by Rivera, Kaela
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Soul Lanterns
by Kuzki, Shaw
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?