Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Riddell, Chris (September 12, 2013) Hardcover Hardcover – 1703

Early on, when I hit that line describing Lord Goth, I knew I had a book that I was going to enjoy. The bigger question, though, was whether a younger reader who wouldn't get that joke would enjoy the book.Well, this is one of the most carefully and sharply written and most elegantly illustrated books I've looked at for younger readers. It's a mystery, an adventure, a ghost story, and a little-girl-lost-story, but it's loaded with puckish good humor and cheerfully dark wit. This is a quirky delight and a testament to what you can produce when you write for younger readers but respect their sensibilities and their abilities. The charm and the sophistication of the book is tailored to younger readers' emerging sensibilities and it rewards them and entertains them without at all patronizing them.And, the book works for a variety of readers at different reading levels, because the jokes, asides and subtle bits all complement each other and a reader can get a few them, or some, or all, and still enjoy the story immensely. For younger readers the story is at least silly fun; for the oldest readers it is loaded with sly inside jokes about Gothic literature. For everyone it's fantastic and quirky and rollicking, often all at the same time.So, there really isn't much of a downside to taking a flyer here. At a minimum the book is entertaining and engaging. At best, it could become a favorite. At the absolute very worst it will amuse Mom and Dad and be judged "O.K." by the kid reader. All of those are attractive options to me, and I'm happy to add such a rewarding change of pace to the family shelf.

This is one of the most BEAUTIFUL books I've ever come across, with dazzling metallic and rich purple edged pages, with a lovely designed hardback cover!The full title for this book is `Goth Girl And The Ghost Of A Mouse', but to be honest, I don't really know why the mouse part has been included as it's very misleading; it would in my opinion have been much better to have been simply called `Goth Girl' as this is really who the story is about - the mouse hardly features at all, and for a good portion of the book is not even mentioned... It's a shame, as the mouse (apart from the girl) is the very first character to appear in the story which leads one to believe that he's quite important to the story - but the plot has little if anything at all to do with this poor little creature, which is a real shame... There is a `mini' book tucked inside the back cover about this pretty pointless character which is rather a sweet and novel idea - but this is a bit of an odd thing to do, and if anything really should be read before the main book to give the reader some background on the mouse character, but as said earlier, to no real purpose since he has such a little place in the main story.This is a crazy - zany kind of a book that is really fun to read, and as it progresses, it becomes crazier and zanier still, until the last few chapters and the end of the story when it almost becomes nonsensical as it reaches its crescendo!As some have already said; much of the writing, jokes and play on words would be lost on most children as they would be simply too young to `get it' or understand them, and so this is rather an odd book all round... Not quite sure what age group it is really aimed at - still a great and fun read though, but am undecided myself yet as to whether I shall be purchasing the follow up.NOTE: Drawings and illustrations are quite fabulous!

Read this to a class of 9 & 10 year olds, they all loved it & desperately want book 2. Highly recommend.

I bought this book purely on the title, couldn't resist the Goth! My daughter is dyslexic and unfortunately "hates" reading. At 13 her reading age is a couple of years behind so trying to find books that she can manage but are still interesting is difficult. This book fits the bill. The print is larger than normal with not too many words crammed on the pages. My daughter has even told me the plot so I know she must be reading it and enjoying it. Will be buying more from the series.

Beautifully edged in purple and hard backed. I haven't read this as it is a present for my Granddaughter (who also loves the Ottoline books in case you're looking for a gift) but the book is lovely to look at and has lots of drawings. I'm sure she'll love it (she's 11).

Such a good book for dyslexic kids to get them into reading. My 9 year old daughter struggles with reading but the pictures help a lot and the reading level is quite low but the story is just at the right level. perfect book.

11yr old grandaughteer loved this

prompt delivery - good condition - .xmas present for my grandaughterI loved the books presentation - embossed cover/illustrations. have read it myself - imaginative story.