The Hungry Ghosts By Julius Lester Pictures By Geraldo Valerio

1.  Bibliography
Lester, Julius.  2009.  THE HUNGRY GHOSTS.  Ill. by Geraldo Valerio.  New York:  Penguin Books.  ISBN 97880803725133


2.  Plot Summary
Every night Malcolm is awakened by a cold breeze and weird noises.  A cemetery is close to his home and he wonders why ghosts would come to his room.  "Goodness my gracious my gracious goodness!"  Malcolm David exclaimed.  "What is going on?" (5).  The curious boy set his alarm clock the next night and is determined to go into the grave yard to find out what is wrong with the ghosts and to help them if he can.


3.  Critical Analysis
This book was written by an African American author.  He creates a folktale with unique characters.  The owls name is sister Owl or Miss Big Eyes and the moon is called Sister Moon.  All of the characters in the story have the title sister or brother to bring a sense of family atmosphere to the book.  There is no doubt in the story that it come from an African American background.  The main character has the name which could be related to Malcolm X.  Instead of freeing African Americans from misery the Malcolm in the story is freeing the ghosts from their suffering.  The main character also has a brown skin color to help the reader identify the presence of the African American culture in the story. 
The illustrator has created beautiful pictures that are blue, green and purples to bring life to the setting of the night in the story.  The skin tone of the main character is a light shade of brown.  His facial features are happy or scared depending on what is happening at that point in the story.  The body type and clothes of the main character are the same as any child.  The general environment of the tale is no different from any other culture.  The homes and the graveyard are very basic.  The illustrator seems to focus more on the image of the main character and other characters in the story.

4.  Review Excerpts
KIRKUS stated, "Not just for Halloween, it's a solid, not-too-scary ghost story for any season."
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL says,"The story is clever and charming...rich and complex...a worthwhile purchase..."

5.  Connections
*This story would be a great tale to make into a play for children for Halloween.  It would be very easy to put the story into a play.
*Other stories about ghosts:
Ogburn, Jacqueline.  THE BAKE SHOP GHOST.  ISBN 0618445579
Quattlebaum, Mary and Patricia Castelao.  THE HUNGRY GHOST OF RUE ORLEANS.  ISBN 0375862072