May Bird and the Ever After

After getting a request for this book from a kid who has proven to have excellent taste (she's a regular at the library, and we've done a lot of book talking!), I finally picked up May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson. I was kind of impressed with the book. May is a friendless 10-year-old girl who has a vivid imagination...and the threat of being sent to boarding school looming over her shoulder. One day while walking in the woods near her home, she falls into a lake and is sucked into the "Ever After," home of ghosts, specters, and ghouls. May finds herself instantly hunted by Bo Clevil, who has outlawed the living from remaining in the Ever After. Teamed up with Pumpkin (the ghost who has haunted May's house for years) and trailed by May's pet Somber Kitty, the two set out to find the Book of the Dead, which will hopefully tell May how she can return home.

This engaging story is perhaps a little slow to set up, but May's adventures in Ever After are exciting and fraught with danger. The characters that May meets up with along the way are diverse and well-drawn, each with their own distinct and endearing personalities. There are lots of interesting dead spirits to be found here, but is not a scary book. It would, however, be a good tone-setting for those looking to get into the Halloween spirit but who don't necessarily want to have their pants scared off.

Overall Grade: A-/B+