Cover Image: Greta and the Ghost Hunters

Greta and the Ghost Hunters

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Member Reviews

This is a charming read. It had a great atmosphere and was a bit creepy. The writing style was good and I loved the illustration. There was great character development.

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Great book. I read it to my children who absolutely loved it. Be a great read at Halloween. The book was very well written

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With the help of probably the two most useless ghosts ever, Greta decides to convince her parents that the house is haunted so they will believe her grandmother sees ghosts rather than that she has gone senile and needs to be in a home.
I loved the narrator immediately and most of the other characters too. Apart from for Greta's ghastly parents, the characters are all hilarious. This is an excellent book for reading aloud, I almost missed some of the jokes as I read it so fast. A very fun and at times moving story with lots of laughs.
The pictures look they they must be good but unfortunately they were all messed up in my netgalley version.

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This story is short and packed with many hijinks(a word that best fits the situations described here.
Our lead protagonist is the odd daughter who does not take after her pretentious parents. Her brother, at the time of the narrative, is too young to fall under any category. Her grandmother is bedridden in the attic and talks to and about Greta's dead grandfather. Her grandmother is to be relocated to an old age home, something that Greta firmly opposes.
After a near-death experience, she can see and communicate with the ghosts in the house. When she decides to use them to convince her parents to leave things the way they are, things backfire. Exorcists/ghost hunters start to make their appearance. There are some deeper issues tackled, one of them being the reluctance of our leading lady to step outside after her accident.
There are pieces of this that were more entertaining than others. It was funny in stages, although I am not sure which ages would appreciate this conversation between loss and grief hidden behind some fart jokes more and which ages would just chuckle at the latter part while ignoring the rest. I felt like I would have liked it more if it had been shorter. I read a sporadic amount of children's books and, like quite a few, enough to recommend to my nieces and nephews. I am not sure I would be especially recommending this, even if I do think it has its audience.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

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This was a charming read that I flew through. It had great atmosphere, was a little creepy at times yet also fun. The characters and the things that you learn about them along the way also lead to this book carrying a strong and wonderful underlying message.
I sadly didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I wanted to though due to some of the characters just feeling one dimensional and stereotypical to a silly extent, especially the parents. This lets down an otherwise wonderful book, which I would still highly recommend for any young reader.

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A near-death experience enables Greta to see the ghosts inhabiting her house (inc. her late grandfather) & leads to some hauntingly hilarious adventures.

Sam Copeland delivers the perfect mix of heart & comedy once again, taking us on a crazy journey of unlikely incidents.

đź‘»Fab!

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I absolutely adored this book! The humour was fantastic and had something for all ages to laugh about.

The love that Greta has for her grandmother really warmed my heart and made me appreciate my own wee granny so much more. The relationships formed between Greta and the ghosts also warmed my heart at times just seeing them all grow to be friends with each other.

I highly recommend this to all parents and children! Such a fantastic book to sit and read together.

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A wonderful book full of humour and spookiness! Greta lives with her mum, dad, brother and gran. Her gran is convinced she can see ghosts and everyone in the family humours her but doesnt really believe her. Until one day, Greta has a near death experience caused by kidney beans and sellotape -when she wakes up she can see ghosts, including her grand-dad, and a small boy called Percy.
Her mum and dad dont think her gran is able to live independently anymore and are trying to move her into a care home, using her 'lies' about seeing ghosts as proof that she isnt as sharp as she once was.
Greta decides to use the ghosts in the house to try and prove to the rest of the family that they do exist and that her gran isn't losing it after all
Some fabulous slapstick scenes and plenty of fart jokes! i would recommend it for 8+

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A fun story for younger middle grade readers, Greta is full of the toilet humour that this age group of children often love but also has themes of anxiety, loss and family. I very much enjoyed the names of characters and places - e.g. Wolfgang Von Bach-Storey! - and the portrayal of the close bong between Greta and her grandma was warm and touching.

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Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book. i enjoyed this, i liked the plot, the characters and the illustrations. I liked how the plot progressed and came to a lovely ending which brought a tear to my eye. This is my first read by this author but i will read more.

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Properly snort-laughed all the way through this one. Love the concept and I know young readers will too. Incredible voice. Incredible cast of characters. Hilarious through and through.

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Thank you to netgalley and the author and publisher for allowing me access to the eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Apologies for the late review life has been hectic.

This is a middle-grade book based on the story of ghosts which is simple but also complicated I loved the progression of the story and that the characters interacted well and stuck to their personas. This was fun and cool and easy to read in one sitting.

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A spooky middle grade with plenty of laughs is the perfect tonic to a freezing, rainy day in January, so this beautifully illustrated book was the ideal cosy accompaniment to a quiet morning.

It’s not until Greta briefly dies in a terrible car accident that Greta sees and hears the ghosts in her family home. They include her grandpa, a young plague victim called Percy and a mysterious spirit who haunts the cellar. When it becomes apparent that her beloved grandmother is going to be put into a home, Greta is desperate to do everything she can to prevent it. Will the ghosts be any help?

Sarah Horne’s stunning, quirky illustrations bring the story to life and amused me just as much as Copeland’s words did. I knew exactly who everyone was and loved travelling through the adventure with their crazy expressions and loveable personalities.

Grandma Woebegone is a fantastic character and despite strong evidence to the contrary, I was convinced that there was something a little bit mystical about her. She has clearly led a very interesting and fulfilling life and the relationship between her and her late husband is so authentic -traditionally flawed yet still full of true love.

The narrator’s identity isn’t revealed till about halfway through the book but before this, we already know them through their playful, occasionally cutting, voice. This style of storytelling is ideal for funny children’s books because the characters are presented as exactly what they are -fictional characters. Like the reader, the narrator is a fellow observer and is literally just like them.

Greta and the Ghost Hunters is a funny, quirky story with the least scary, most disastrous exorcism that I’ve ever witnessed. Copeland is a master at writing humour that works for readers of all ages and Horne’s artistic talents are the perfect accompaniment to this madcap, non-stop, spooky adventure.

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I have mixed feelings about this book. It was a decent read, but despite my love for children's books, it was a tad childish for my liking. However, I feel like actual children would really enjoy this book! It's got a good level of silliness that i think kids would really enjoy.
I liked that Greta was so close with her grandma, and was doing everything she could to keep her at home with her, rather than being sent to a home. The ghosts were good fun, each in their own way. The parents were utterly unlikeable (which obviously was on purpose, as they are basically the villains of the book), not the worst parents ever, but annoying, don't listen to or believe their child, and are so selfabsorbed they just don't know what is actually happening half the time.
so overall, I personally wouldn't read again, but I really think kids will adore this book!

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It's an entertaining, fun and moving story. It’s full of ghostly shenanigans and I thoroughly enjoyed it till the end!

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absolutely brilliant book for middle grade readers. the story is fun and unique. I read it quickly cause I was so entertaining and fun that I couldn't put it down. highly recommend to children and adults

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Greta Woebegone is a ten-year old girl who, after a car accident, can see the ghosts that are haunting her family home. Luckily, they are not particularly scary (at least one of them will not be pleased to hear this though!). A much bigger worry for Greta are her parents’ plans to move her beloved grandmother into a nursing home. Will Greta be able to enlist her new ghostly friends to change her parents’ minds? And what will happen when her parents hire some real-life ghost hunters?

This is a hilarious book with lots of humour. I particularly enjoyed the description of Greta’s parents and the narrator’s commentary on the action. There are some serious undertones too about missed opportunities and taking risks in life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children's UK for the digital review copy.

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3.5 stars.

Greta and The Ghost Hunters was on my anticipated releases for 2022 list and whilst it was an enjoyable read it didn’t quite pack the punch I thought it was going to.

I did appreciate the exploration of fear especially fear after a trauma and thought it was realistically portrayed and handled in a sensitive way.

The toilet based humour was not to my personal taste and I did find some of the characters a bit one-dimensional. This could have been purposeful though due to who was narrating but it often felt too superficial.

Overall I do think this would appeal to the target audience and provides both humour and a meaningful exploration of emotions in equal measure.

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What an enchanting read. All the spooky vibes and a lot of heart. Made me cry. An absolutely amazing author. Instantly made me want to buy the rest of their collection.

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I might be a lot older than 9 but since I read Charlie Changes Into a Chicken, Sam Copeland's books have been my favourite to read (I even got my friend and her gran reading them!) This book does not disappoint and I think it's my favourite book since the authors first book.

Greta and the Ghost Hunters follows a girl who in her desperation to stop her gran going to a care home comes up with a plan with her new ghost friends to prove her gran is not going mad by proving the house is haunted but she ends up in more ghostly trouble than she anticipated.

Whilst this story didn't have as serious a topic as previous books I love how the book was full of family love and heart from Greta. It is lovely to see how much she cared for her grandma as well as the members of the family in spirit form she can now see and how whilst she seemed to overdo her plan at times you could tell it was coming from her heart and her love of keeping her family together. The end was particularly heartwarming yet sad as it showed how far the characters had come in the story and it was great to see how everyone was considering each other's feelings and what was best for them.

The illustrations are fantastic, as always, and work so well with the authors writing. Together they really bring the story to life and show off just how funny and humorous the story is whilst also bringing across the importance of the emotions which show not everything in life is all fun and games and sometimes it's sad for everyone too.

This is a fantastic book that is hilarious, full of sarcasm and lots of toilet humour which children will love whilst also having a more emotional and touching side to the story. I do have two complaints though, I didn't want the book to end and bring back the footnotes (can it be a Sam Copeland book without them!!)

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