Finally, Buster gets to be the goalie for the city's new hockey team. He wants to be just like his late idol, Jacques Nettoyer. Time for the game. Buster begins to see Nettoyer's ghost everywhere! Can Buster over come this and be able to play? ( )

In my opinion this is a good first chapter book for young readers. The first reason that I believe this is because of the plot. The story is about Arthur's group of friends, specifically Buster Baxter, all joining the hockey team. Buster has trouble as the goalie, believing that it is always his fault when the team loses a game. "'I thought that was my fault," said Buster. "I let you down." "Oh, no," said Arthur. "There was plenty of blame to go around.'" The feeling that Buster has throughout this book can certainly relate to many young kids feelings, especially how goalies feel after a game. The second reason I enjoyed this book was because of the writing. When Buster is speaking with his role model goalie who happens to be a ghost, he begins to speak french. "'Buster shook his head. "Ah, non, Monsieur Binky." "Can you explain -- in English -- why you're speaking French?" asked the Brain.'" I feel that this text grabs the readers attention as they begin to question why Buster is speaking like that. The third reason I enjoyed this book was because of the characters. Arthur, Brain, Muffy, Binky, Francine, and Buster are all great friends who help each other out when times get tough. "'What Binky is trying to say," added the Brain, coming up with Francine and Arthur, "is that you're not all by yourself out there on the ice." "We'll be out there, too," said Francine.'" All in all I feel that the 'big idea' of this story is to never give up on yourself, no matter how hard it might be. Friendship and perseverance will help get you through the toughest of times. ( )

Arthur and the Goalie Ghost is written by Marc Brown. The book is in the category of contemporary realistic fiction. A new hockey team is being formed at the school. Arthur friend Buster is the goalie for the team. Buster goes a little overboard trying to be like Jacques Nettoyer “the greatest goalie of all time”. Buster even eats peanut butter and tuna fish together in his sandwich to be like Jacques. Buster sees Jacques ghost and he pushes Buster super hard. After losing the first game Buster fells like it’s his entire fault and takes losing hard. Arthur and his other friends try to tell Buster that it’s the whole team fault. Coach Simard works after school with Buster. The coach tells Buster to try a different method in stopping the puck. Ghost Jacques tells Buster not to listen to the coach because that’s not how he does it. The next game Buster listens to what the coach said to do. They win the game! Jacques tells Buster it seems like that method was working for him. Then Jacques had visited other goalies. Buster then when off to celebrate with his friends.

I never read sports books when I was growing up. I figure since I would have boys in my class that I should read some sports books. I know very little about hockey. However, I enjoyed reading this book. The ghost Jacques’s was spoke French. I like how in the back of the book it had the French words plus how to pronounce them and the meanings. This book is perfect for student just learning to read chapter books.

I would not use this book in a whole class setting. I might would use this book with a small group reading or buddy reading. I refer this book to my students who are just learning to read chapter books. I would show the student, how to refer to the back of the book for pronunciation and the meaning of the French words. For my students who enjoyed reading the shorter Arthur books, I would suggest this book when they are ready to read chapter books. ( )