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Sam Wu Is Not Afraid of Ghosts
by Katie and Kevin Tsang
After an incident at the space museum, everyone thinks Sam is a coward. He is determined to prove otherwise, starting with the ghost in his house.
A story about children, funny and spooky in tone. We would put it with children of 6–9, and at a reading age of about 7 for reading alone.
Nothing flagged
We have not flagged any content in this one that a parent would usually want warning about.
Part of a series
This is book 1 of the Sam Wu series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.
Our take on this book
After a mortifying incident at the space museum, the whole school has decided Sam Wu is a coward, and Sam is determined to prove them wrong — which is awkward, because he is quietly terrified of a great many things, starting with the ghost he is convinced is haunting his house. Katie and Kevin Tsang write with real comic energy and a strong, funny first-person voice, and the book is packed with the doodled fonts, lists and cartoons that pull in readers who find solid pages of text off-putting. The scares are entirely of the giggly, under-the-duvet sort, and Sam's terror is played for laughs and affection rather than genuine fright. Its quiet good sense is that being brave means being scared and doing the thing anyway. For a six- to nine-year-old it is a fast, hilarious, confidence-building read that usually sends them straight to the next in the series.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Mr MajeikaHumphrey Carpenter
The Worst Class in the WorldJoanna Nadin
The Worst Class in the World Gets WorseJoanna Nadin
Amelia Fang and the Barbaric BallLaura Ellen Anderson
Amelia Fang and the Unicorns of GlitteropolisLaura Ellen Anderson
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.