(The following review is not meant to dissuade or endorse but rather to inform parents and readers of content. Careful effort has been made to point out what parents may find useful, but please use your own discretion as 100% accuracy cannot be guaranteed)
(Caution: contains spoilers)
Title:
‘Spirit Hunters’
Intended Audience:
Readers 8-12 years old
Synopsis:
Something feels terribly wrong with Harper’s new/old home and cold spots, the feeling of being watched, and a series of accidents are only the beginning. When Harper’s younger brother gets a new invisible friend, he becomes withdrawn, irritable, and even violent at times. Harper must work quickly to unravel the secrets of old house, and her own past if she is to help her brother before it’s too late.
Themes:
Supernatural, mystery, ghosts, diversity, friendship, racism, family
Language Content:
Main character calls a lot of things stupid. A girl says her grandmother’s dog should have been named, ‘jerkface’ or ‘Pain in My Butt.’ Siblings do quite a bit of name calling. They call each other things like, doofus, idiot, butt head, boob, and brat. They also say shut up, buzz off fat cow, and nasty little turd. Older sister says “D*** it.
Romantic Situations:
None noted
Violence and Gore:
Several instances of ghosts perpetrating violence against main character. Harper is pushed down the stairs by invisible force, she’s had her arms broken in the past when she was slammed into the ground by ghost. A ghost uses a firetruck to slice open her arm and wound is deep and gushes blood requiring trip to hospital and stitches.
One of the ghosts was sadistic when he was alive and tried to hurt his brother a lot. We see several flashbacks of this. The boy smashes a toy car into his brothers face, making his nose bleed, he also makes his brother fall and get burned on an oven, and tries to push younger brother into well, and falls in himself and dies. When her little brother is under the sadistic ghost’s influence, he grows violent and volatile. He punches her in stomach, breaks a dog’s foot, hits his mom in face and chest and hits oldest sister in the face causing a broken nose.
Frightening Imagery:
There is mention of a girl who killed herself. Also rotting corpse with bugs crawling in and out. Brother has evil, vacant eyes. She finds out former owner of house used to lure homeless people to the house, poison them, and experiment and shock them while they were dying.
Magic and the Occult:
Talks about summoning the dead and ridding people of evil spirits. There is a rumor that the man who used to live in their house made a pact with the devil in order to live forever. Main character finds Ouija board, Tarot cards, and a crystal ball in the attic. Grandmother is a shaman and has altar in her house with images of Korean Gods. Harper uses bells, chanting, holy water, salt, and charms in her fight against evil spirits and to perform exorcisms.
Use of Drugs and Alcohol:
None noted
Disrespectful Attitudes:
Harper is not happy with moving and she has a grumpy/annoyed attitude. She starts her journal entries with a list of “Things I hate.”An old woman at a supermarket makes mean comments about Harper’s race because she is Korean and says she isn’t a real American. Instance of African American spirit being feared by other spirits because of her race. Harper harbors a lot of resentment toward her mother for keeping her apart from her grandmother for years because of her talk and involvement with the spirit world. At one point they have a fight and Harper leaves with her grandmother. There is some resolution at the end, and the grandmother is accepted back into their lives. Harper begins last journal entry in the book with “Things I love.”
Final Thoughts:
Some content might be a bit too mature for young children, and they may find the sadistic nature of the ghost disturbing. Overall, Spirit Hunters is an interesting, fast paced read that deals with self-acceptance and not judging things you don’t understand.
Emily A. Steward is a writer of Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction. Her books can be found on Amazon.com and at participating retailers.
The Unreliable Narrator 