Ghoulia and the Ghost with No Name continues the undead love

Ghoulia is back in her third entry from Barbara Cantini. You Tim Burton-inspired, middle-school, well-crafted, graphic novel loving people know what I’m talking about. Ghoulia and the Ghost With No Name may sound like a person who’s got the lyrics to that song by America wrong. We do things like that all the time when we’re in the car by ourselves. This series is the incredibly detailed world of Ghoulia, a spooky little girls whose family is even spookier. Think a more gothic Addams Family, but with much more charm and drawn to minute observations put into every page.

In Ghost with No Name we’re meet Ghoulia as she’s preparing to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a couple of day. If this is your first time meeting her then we’re provided with an introduction to the spectral residents of Crumbling Manor. There’s Auntie Departed, her dog Tragedy, Grandad Coffin, Uncle Misfortune and a couple other creatures that live there. Ghoulia is from the same witchy roots, but also has many human friends who’ll be attending the party.

That night a glowing ghost knocks on her window and tells her a story. It turns out the ghost boy doesn’t know his name and can’t remember anything. Ghoulia asks Grandad Coffin for advice as to how they can discover who and where he came from. He proceeds to tell her about a place called Oblivion where forgotten ghosts spend their time.

Ghost with No Name has shades of Coco, as well as anything that Tim Burton might put on film, but in both instances it’s just a couple dark hues. Ghoulia is its own creation that fans of the softly spooky will flock to. Where this book stands apart and really shines is in the artwork’s attention to detail. It’s lovingly drawn with so many intricacies that you see something new each time you look at a page. The art is in full color and has a very classy, age-appropriate dread to it.

Its graphic novel sensibilities, due to its art, combined with the text that’s much more story-based makes this an accessible book for mid-elementary through middle school readers. The only downside to the book is that the final seven pages are filler that’s devoted to cut-out costumes for the characters, crafts and quizzes about what kids just read. I can only presume that these pages have something to do with publishing length. Having said that, it’s better to have a lovingly crafted story that might feel short when compare to its page length, than to have it wear out its welcome.

Ghoulia and the Ghost with No Name is by Barbara Cantini and published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books.

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