J Bean Palmer

The third installment of a Middle Grade series filled with magic, mystery, danger, and friendship. It takes us to the upper east coast of the USA and across the seas as we seek to protect a home never known…and a little something more. What at first appears to be merely another adventure with a varied group of kids, furry animals, and some magic thrown in for good measure…which by the way, would have certainly been good enough….turns into a cross seas adventure with a few lessons to learn , a hidden message of conservation and overall ecological responsibility. Who’d have thought, right? Yet, there it is, ready for readers young and old to capture, embrace, and take “the long look” themselves at how our actions and choices shape the world around us in a much BIGGER way.

On the story level, we’re faced with topics such as growing up, uncovering a secret family history, “enemies” we couldn’t fathom having had let alone have them currently seeking us out, challenging friendships, and forgiveness. There is a bit of a mystery to solve as well as a plethora of magical creatures to meet plus a bad guy worth serving up on a platter…with his little henchmen. Her well meaning friends provide many emotional highs and lows throughout the story. My favorite would have to be Johnny Twofeathers and our leading lady, Ms. Elsbeth Thistle, on the human side of things, both for their general character as well as their good intentions. On the side of familiars, Sylvanias wins paws down…gotta love that crazy cat!

In conclusion…a trip to the Cape well worth the travel time with a cast of characters you’ll be glad to have met. Recommended read for girls and boys alike from the Middle Grade set and forward.


**ebook for review received in exchange for my honest review....full review can be seen on my site**… (more)

Note: This was given by the authors in exchange for an honest review.

Verdict: 3.75, rounded to a soft 4.

Let’s dive into the pros of ElsBeth and the Call of the Castle Ghosties.

1. Stand Alone Indeed
It was nice to see that this book (as well as the other books) in the Cape Cod Witch series can in fact stand alone.

2. Beautiful Cover
I really love the way this cover was done. Images very crisp and colorful without being overwhelming with content. Balance of text and spacing was wonderful to the eyes. Out of all the covers in the series, this is the one I adored the most.

3. Impressive internal illustrations
All of the illustrations made me smile. I could not pinpoint one that was my absolute favorite because I appreciated them all. I only wished there were a few more of them as it got to the middle and ending of the book.

4. Name brands null and void
One of the major wins for this book in the Cape Cod Witch series is that the author deviated from the mentioning of name brand items. In the previous two books, I found it a bit distracting. With this being left out, it helped to keep the focus on the substance of the contents.

5. Minimal to no use of certain punctuation marks, such as hyphens, long dashes, and parenthesis made for tidier text.

6. Increased strength in the core supporting cast
Robert Hillman-Jones and Johnny Twofeathers in particular really came into their own in the Call of the Castle Ghosties. ElsBeth seemed more of a team supporter than the sole hero. Although there may be some who frown on the shared spotlight, I believe it reinforces the fact that they truly are friends of ElsBeth and have the best intentions at heart.

7. Gives spotlight to real life issues
There were quite a bit of chances to learn in this book. Some of the issues mentioned involved polar bears, stripping the land of its natural resources, and lack of encouragement to think for one’s self in the education system. Since the characters are at about the ten/eleven year old mark, it’s not too unorthodox to provide some type of awareness about these types of things.

Cons

1. The “And” and “But”-o-rama
I still don’t like the heavy dependence of putting “and” as well s “but” at the beginning of sentences, more so in a book tailored towards youth.

2. The weird quotation marks usage.

3. Weird sentence structure in the form of comma splices and commas used a bit too abundantly.

4. More illustrations
I hinted at it previously but the illustrator’s talent is so terrific that I wanted it displayed on each and every chapter. I would have liked to have been shown what the newer characters looked like such as Baird and Effie. Plus, for those who are visual, it would have given a more continuous flow between text and pictures.

5. Imbalanced pacing in spots
Although there was quite a bit of conflict to go around in ElsBeth and the Call of the Castle Ghosties, there were a few chapters where things lulled slightly. It felt like the author realized that and things got rather speedy in the final third of the book. This is not the type of read where you want to get distracted, for you may miss something pertinent if you don’t.

Out of all the books in The Cape Cod Witch series, ElsBeth and the Call of the Castle Ghosties is the strongest representation of a strong story line, balanced conflict, engaging characters, and life lessons for young people to take with them.… (more)