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82nd out of 162 books
—
273 voters
Picking Up the Ghost
by
Tone Milazzo (Goodreads Author)
Living in St. Jude, a 110-year-old dying city on the edge of the Mississippi, is tough. But when a letter informs fourteen-year-old Cinque Williams of the passing of the father he never met, he is faced with an incomplete past and an uncertain future. A curse meant for his father condemns Cinque to a slow death even as it opens his eyes to the strange otherworld around him...more
Paperback, 281 pages
Published
July 19th 2011
by Chizine Publications
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I'll refrain from gushing over Tone's book (being biased as I am), and just say this: It's a strong debut; a well-done hero's journey with some excellent twists and turns; and very gutsy in his choice of protagonist and subject matter. And he accomplishes it all without leaving me feeling uncomfortable. I really enjoyed the approach to magic, it felt grounded, real and visceral; not at all like the silly faux-Latin spells and wands of certain other child sorcerers.
What a fun read! I love fantasy, but have become discouraged at how dark and depressing many of the stories have become. This book was an adventure that made me grin as well as shiver in anticipation. Milazzo doesn't throw in pointless gore or drama. It's just a great story line with characters I cheered for!
Absolutely loved the book. Read it from cover to cover in a day and I want MORE!!! Interesting characters and good plot with nice twists. Now one of my new favorite authors! I recommend this...more
Absolutely loved the book. Read it from cover to cover in a day and I want MORE!!! Interesting characters and good plot with nice twists. Now one of my new favorite authors! I recommend this...more
I picked up (sorry) this book because of the striking and unusual cover art, reminiscent of graffiti and perfectly suited to the setting. I bought it because of the unusual setting (a decaying Southern city) and protagonist, a young Black boy (I get so tired of default-setting protagonists).
What I liked about Picking Up the Ghost: most of it. The book design is very attractive, with the same distinctive art continued throughout. The way magic was entwined into a derelict post-industrial landsca...more
What I liked about Picking Up the Ghost: most of it. The book design is very attractive, with the same distinctive art continued throughout. The way magic was entwined into a derelict post-industrial landsca...more
Picking up the Ghost was a pleasant surprise. I will admit that I found it hard to get into at the beginning. It starts out slow as it depicts the barron almost destitute town of St. Jude, however, Cinque holds the story together and his path of self discovery is one for the ages. Cinque is a young man unclear of his origins and unclear of himself. His town is one that has seen good times but similar to many other factory towns saw its own demise with the closure of the nearby plant. This town i...more
Picking up the Ghost is an unusual and fascinating story about the search for identity and inner strength cleverly written in a way that is entertaining and accessible for teens.
Living in St. Jude, a 110-year-old dying city on the edge of the Mississippi, is tough. But when a letter informs fourteen-year-old Cinque Williams of the passing of the father he never met, he is faced with an incomplete past and an uncertain future. A curse meant for his father condemns Cinque to a slow death even as i...more
Living in St. Jude, a 110-year-old dying city on the edge of the Mississippi, is tough. But when a letter informs fourteen-year-old Cinque Williams of the passing of the father he never met, he is faced with an incomplete past and an uncertain future. A curse meant for his father condemns Cinque to a slow death even as i...more
I received this ARC in e-reader format through Net Galley.
Let me start off by saying that this book had the potential to be something different and good...but in saying that, I believe that it fell short.
There were very awkward sentence structures and a few grammatical errors that really took away from the root of the story. I am hoping the final edit will get some of those taken care of.
You can read a summary of this on Goodreads, so I won't waste time on that. I will say that the meat and pot...more
Let me start off by saying that this book had the potential to be something different and good...but in saying that, I believe that it fell short.
There were very awkward sentence structures and a few grammatical errors that really took away from the root of the story. I am hoping the final edit will get some of those taken care of.
You can read a summary of this on Goodreads, so I won't waste time on that. I will say that the meat and pot...more
Feb 23, 2013
Angela(demonsangel) Fitzgerald
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
goodreads-giveaways-signed
I think it was a strong and promising debut for Milazzo. I found the book slow in the beginning but it does pick up.
Cinque is a 14 year old boy who is unclear of his origins and himself. He is on a path of self discovery. When he gets the letter he can't help but journey in hopes of making sure he has a future.
Cinque's journey takes him to the otherworldly. When he starts seeing ghost and spirits is when the story picks up. Of course, Milazzo introduced magic and that made it a good read as wel...more
Cinque is a 14 year old boy who is unclear of his origins and himself. He is on a path of self discovery. When he gets the letter he can't help but journey in hopes of making sure he has a future.
Cinque's journey takes him to the otherworldly. When he starts seeing ghost and spirits is when the story picks up. Of course, Milazzo introduced magic and that made it a good read as wel...more
I enjoyed PICKING UP THE GHOST more than I thought I would. The story of Cinque, a young urban kid, trying to find who he is and where he comes from in a dying city starts off rather slow, and for the first fifty or so pages I struggled to keep reading. But, once Cinque's life is shaken by a traumatic event and he learns of the reality of voodoo, the story picks up steam and starts to ramble forward on more interesting wheels. By the time it was over I was thoroughly enjoying Cinque's story and...more
I have to start by saying that I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the characters and most of the story. However...(sorry) it was difficult to get through. It took me a very long time to get through this relatavely short book. I found myself wanted to skip ahead to the next part. I also kept feeling like I was missing out on something secret. Maybe inside symbolism that wasn't meant for me but meant something to the author.
I wanted more interaction between the people and less in the other world. Great...more
I wanted more interaction between the people and less in the other world. Great...more
I will say that at first I was a little hesitant at reading the entire book seeing as the beggining threw me off..... But once I read past the first three chapters or so I instantly became hooked. This book is full of twist and turns and was humorous as well. I will day that this book is worth the read. I also love love love how this book has many factors which make you think. This book is different but in such a good way!!!!!
Starts slow, but an interesting read. The profanity will keep the book out of many young person's reading lists, which is probably unfortunate. I got into the characters; I want a sequel to find out what happens with Cinque and Imani.
I liked it.
But I'm not the kind to give myself 5 stars.
But I'm not the kind to give myself 5 stars.
This is a good first book.
I had a bit of trouble getting into the book at first. I had a little trouble relating to Cinque. But by chapter 3 I was hooked. It's an interesting spin on magick, voodoo, juju, and hoodoo. I liked the boy's exploration of it. The sense of place was very strong in this book. This book has a lot going for it. I'm eager to see what Milazzo comes up with next!
I received this book as a first reads winner.
I had a bit of trouble getting into the book at first. I had a little trouble relating to Cinque. But by chapter 3 I was hooked. It's an interesting spin on magick, voodoo, juju, and hoodoo. I liked the boy's exploration of it. The sense of place was very strong in this book. This book has a lot going for it. I'm eager to see what Milazzo comes up with next!
I received this book as a first reads winner.
Yeah! My copy just came in the mail today. I can't wait to see how it'll turn out.
This book would go through parts of great excitement, but then it would go through parts of boredom. I enjoyed the different magic system, but it was hard to understand,which was probably supposed to happen.
Jun 25, 2011
Jessica
is currently reading it
Kindle format quality control.
May 11, 2013
Johanna
marked it as to-read
May 03, 2013
Maisha
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Mar 01, 2013
Amanda Aziyade
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Jan 19, 2013
Jessica
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Jan 14, 2013
Jamie Lange
is currently reading it
Jan 11, 2013
Jenn Haile
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Jan 10, 2013
Mathilde
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Jan 04, 2013
Lorrie Palmer
marked it as to-read
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