This was a good book. A lot of introspection and less action than I expected. I am not sure about that ending. So I enjoyed it, but I am less likely to re-read it.

This was an adorable read!

I thought this would be a good book to recommend to my eight year old and to my middle school students, but there were a lot of messages I didn’t like in the book.

"We're always in a hurry to grow up, never thinking about what comes after you do that. Now that I've already reached the final stop in the game of life, I wish I could've slowed things down. Not been in such a hurry to grow up and grow old."

This book tells the story of middle schooler Finn McAllister who was biking home from school one minute and the next minute he was run off the road by a wild driver in a big van. Finn is now a ghost and has to figure out the mystery of why he was killed. Along the way, Finn figures out he can do a lot of things without anyone telling him no. Finn spends a large chunk of the novel playing video games, going to the movies, trying so many ice cream flavors, and sneaking up on people. Finn also has a new ghost friend Isabella, a girl who disappeared from his school several months before.

I realize I'm not the target audience for this book but this book lands squarely in the category of "middle grade books that make me dread reading middle grade books". Oof. The book was shallow, choppy (very short chapters), and quite frankly, stupid at times. I didn't care how many levels Finn won, I didn't want another chapter of him playing video games. When the mystery finally does get solved, it was anything but satisfying. And the ending? Don't get me started on the ending that made me so angry I spent a few hours listening to this story.

In my opinion, skip this one. There are much better middle grade novels to spend your time reading.

TW: missing person, death

It's OK. I guess a good intro to crime solving type books for young readers. And obviously a healthy helping of ghosties.

I forget how much I LOVE James Patterson. Geez. What a phenomenal book!!!!!!!

For middle school books, I'm a fan of both James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein and this book does not disappoint. Being familiar with Mr. Lemoncello, I was expecting something a bit more laugh-out-loud humor, but instead, it was more melancholy in nature, although moments of humor definitely were present (for example when he discovered that his best friend actually wore a *gasp* bra!). The main message of this book had to do with not being afraid of life, about taking risks sometimes (no, not stupid risks), and living life to the fullest or you end up as a ghost, full of regrets. There was a message in there about helicopter parenting too, although that was probably a message more to the parents who might read this book than to the middle school audience this book is meant for. There was one moment with Finn's dad and the gaming system that absolutely tore my heart out. But I feel like the ending was a bit too rushed and it didn't really resolve anything for the ones left behind (particularly Finn's parents). I would have loved it if the messages of these books were more obviously relayed to his friends and family somehow so that when he and Isabella finally left, they could leave knowing they left those behind better off. It just didn't feel completely resolved for me. That said, I really enjoyed this story and I hope the two of them will team up again in the future.

My initial review: I really enjoyed the story except I'm not sure what happened at the end. 4 stars

My review now: I initially thought I really liked the story, then I started thinking about it. I had to take a star away. As much as I was enjoying, that ending ruined it for me. It's a short story, fast-paced , but I can't get over that ending.

Let me stop talking about it or I'm going to end up taking away another star.