Tuma Book Rant: Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega
I read this one via Libro.fm on my commutes to and from work. And despite the spooky tale about ghosts, it brought sunlight and light to my dark morning commutes and help fight against road range in the evenings.
This story follow Lucely Luna and her bestie Sidney (Sid) Fair as they bright back ghostly adversaries after Lucely notices that her "fireflies" aka the ghosts of her family who have passes that only she can see are being hurt and fading due to some malicious energy/power that has arrived in their town. With the help of Sid's grandma who is a lot more than meets the eye, they fight to save their town.
I really enjoyed the characters a lot. I'm a character reader, so a story without dynamic, compelling characters can be a bust for me if there's not another aspect that is done well to redeem it. Lucely is such a sweetheart. Sid is a hoot and a half and the type of friend every person needs.
The writing, er audio production, reads smoothly with excellent imagery to draw you clearly into the action and authentic dialogue. The voices matched the characters perfectly and I enjoyed that there were different voices for different characters!
I found myself smiling warmly at the end of track 22 as the book ended.
Would definitely recommend if you're looking for a story about a young Latina and her Black best friend, a large, lively Latinx family in the form of ghosts/spirits, and a Black grandmother who doesn't take any shit and may or may not be a witch!
To get your own copy, visit Libro.fm/tumasbooksandthings