Ghost Squad

January 15, 2020
After unwittingly unleashing dead spirits on St. Augustine, Florida, Lucely Luna works to restore the city with the help of friend Syd and the spirits of her family. Dominican American Lucely Luna lives with her family. Her father, Simon, runs a ghost tour business. The rest of them are deceased but are still very much in her life, their spirits appearing to her as cucuyos, or fireflies. Alarmingly, after one ghost tour, the spirit of Lucely's grandma, Mamá, goes dim. At school, Lucely learns of Las Brujas Moradas, witches who fled Spain during the Inquisition and who were reputed to have a lost spell book. Lucely and her best friend, Syd, decide to look for a spell that can awaken the dead so they can wake Mamá up, so they prowl through the library of Syd's grandmother Babette, who owns an occult shop. When they recite a spell they find there, they accidentally awaken other--evil--spirits of the town. Lucely and Syd join forces with Babette and Lucely's spirit family in the fight to save St. Augustine and Mamá. Lucely's action-packed and ghost-filled adventures unfold briskly, with seamlessly incorporated and unitalicized Spanish. While it's undeniably a ghost story, Lucely's love for her family, both corporeal and spirit, carries the narrative, giving it warmth and depth. Readers will root for Lucely and Syd as they try to save St. Augustine and Lucely's cucuyos. Both girls present black on the cover. A warmly spooky middle-grade debut. (Fantasy. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from March 16, 2020
When Dominican-American Lucely Luna, 12, learns that her single father might lose their house, her primary concern is for the myriad ghosts of her family, who inhabit the willow tree out back as fireflies, at least when they’re not manifesting in human form. When her grandmother’s spirit warns her of a coming darkness before falling dormant, Luna and her best friend, Syd Faires, seek to revive Mamá. Borrowing a book of magic from Syd’s grandmother, who owns an occult store, they cast a spell that unleashes malevolent forces upon the town of St. Augustine—one that they must reverse to defeat the evil that seeks to destroy them all. With this delightfully spooky adventure, Ortega draws upon her Dominican heritage to craft a heartwarming story with a strong focus on family genetic and found. A peppering of pop culture
references—a nod to Ghostbusters, a clowder of cats named for Goonies characters—add humor, but it’s the personal touches, such as Lucely’s opinionated, ever-present ancestors; her dedication to those she loves; and an emphasis on Latinx food, love, and folklore, that gives this debut its distinctive spirit. Ages 8–12. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary.

April 1, 2020

Gr 4 Up-Looking for a Halloween read? Look no further. Something strange is happening to Lucely's ghost family of fireflies, known as cocuyos-they are fading away. They tell her that something evil is coming. In an attempt to revive her Mama Teresa, Lucely and her best friend Syd perform a spell to raise the dead, but accidentally awaken old evil spirits that want to revenge against their town. Lucely, Syd, and Syd's grandmother Babette (who is a witch) must undo the curse and save her ghost family. This is a fast-paced adventure rooted in Dominican mythology and packed with action and humor. Readers are pulled into the family's close bond and supernatural world easily, with tender moments like abuela singing Lucely to sleep during a storm and the collective urgency as Lucely feels Mama's spirit quieting. VERDICT Ortega's debut is filled with action, humor, and originality. Lucely and Syd's adventure gives readers paranormal thrills akin to Ghostbusters and the Goonies, from a refreshingly different cultural perspective.-Ruth Guerrier-Pierre, New York Public Library

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2020
Grades 4-6 Death puns, dark humor, mystical vibes, and pop-culture references to the 1980s and 1990s abound in this action-packed ghost hunt featuring two preteen friends trying to save their hometown, the very haunted St. Augustine, from a horde of vengeful spirits. Lucely Luna is quite familiar with ghosts?she still lives with a whole family of friendly, supportive, deceased Lunas, who fluctuate between spirit form and firefly form. But when the willow tree they reside in is threatened, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, must identify the culprit to save the Lunas' struggling Ghost Tour business?and the entire town. Along the way, Lucely and Syd learn about the bonds between friends and family as they encounter enchanted books, cryptic catacombs, and a coven of cats who are more than they appear. Shoutouts to Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, Hocus Pocus, The Goonies, and the like crop up continually as debut author Ortega expertly weaves a feel-good, phantasmagorical adventure that readers won't want to miss.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)