Ghosts in Fourth Grade

by Constance Hiser, Cat Bowman Smith (Illustrator), Lee Macleod (Cover Art)

Trick or Treat

Mean Mitchell punched him in the mouth and broke his tooth. Now James and his friends are determined to get even! So they invite Mitchell to a party at the Hathaway House. By the time they're through, the class bully will look like the biggest scaredy cat of all! The trap is set. Their "special effects" are perfect. But when the big night arrives, ghosts they didn't expect terrify them all! Who's turning the tables now?

Genres: Halloween

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.. I like great friendships, coming of age or a moral in my middle school stories, at first I didn't think this did any of those things. This was an attempt at trying to retaliate against the class bully. I like TJ realizing that Mean Mitchell was scaring them just like they had intended for him. Also, the pressure to override their fear and caution would be a good talking point. I think the story should've continued on to see what happened afterwards. But I just realized that is the best thing about the book. It would spark discussion about bullying and retaliation and what happened later. I'm adding a half a star to my rating.

Also published in 1991, this story showed a group of diverse friends. No comments about that, just represented in the illustrations.

[Michelle]

Listed as Q3 = A good story with some faults, P3 = A booktalk on this title will excite most people’s interest