This CD set contained books one and two of the Araminta Spookie series by Angie Sage. Of course, given my MS's fixation on Halloween and all things spooky, I assumed this one would really catch his attention.
Sadly, despite an effort to play the CD for him, he refused to listen to more than one chapter of the story. Since I had already listened to the whole thing on my drive home from the CMI weekend, I knew he would really enjoy the books. However, I thought it best to return it to the library and try again closer to Halloween (if they aren't already checked out) or perhaps next October.
Araminta is a ghost-obsessed girl who lives in a haunted house with her aunt and uncle. When she discovers that her aunt intends to sell the house (before Araminta has even located a single ghost), she determines to drive away any would-be buyers. In the midst of her antics, the ghosts in the house finally show themselves and do their best to help her.
The characters are classic - the uncle sleeps upside down with the bats in the belfry, the aunt is very tight-lipped and struggles with keeping the boiler going. Araminta is just plain delightful. I highly recommend the audio version, because the narrator does an excellent job of fleshing out their character in the voices she gives them.
In the second book, Araminta is joined by her new friend, Wanda as they seek out an appropriate gift for Sir Horace, a ghost who is about to turn 500 years old. They discover a sword in a grotto near the home and make plans to follow the underground tunnels from their home to the grotto. What they hadn't expected (although Wanda actually had expected the worst, since she is more timid than Araminta) was a portcullis trap and the tides to begin filling the grotto cave. This book contained much more suspense and once again, the characterization was fantastic.
I'm actually looking forward to the time when MS and YS are ready to explore these funny, delightful books! Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if this series ends up as television fare or an October released animated movie.
2 comments:
Thanks for the recommendation! This series was not on my radar before now! ~Karin
These sound like so much fun! I think I'm going to take them out and read aloud to my kids. It'll give me some narrating practice on my voices.
As usual, what a fun find!
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