The Ghost Collector by Allison Mills (Middle Grade Book Review)

I received a free physical copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

The Ghost Collector
by Allison Mills

Published by
Annick Press
on September 10, 2019
Genre:
Middle Grade, Paranormal

Length: 200 pages

Ages: 10 - 14 years

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Synopsis:

Ghosts aren't meant to stick around forever...

Shelly and her grandmother catch ghosts. In their hair.

Just like all the women in their family, they can see souls who haven't transitioned yet; it's their job to help the ghosts along their journey. When Shelly's mom dies suddenly, Shelly's relationship to ghosts--and death--changes. Instead of helping spirits move on, Shelly starts hoarding them. But no matter how many ghost cats, dogs, or people she hides in her room, Shelly can't ignore the one ghost that's missing. Why hasn't her mom's ghost come home yet?

Rooted in a Cree worldview and inspired by stories about the author's great-grandmother's life, The Ghost Collector delves into questions of grief and loss, and introduces an exciting new voice in tween fiction that will appeal to fans of Kate DiCamillo's Louisiana's Way Home and Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls.

My Thoughts:

Shelly has a special gift passed down through the women in her family that allows her to not only see ghosts but also catch them in her long hair. Her grandmother taught her how to catch the ghosts, appease them, and send them on their way to pass on.

When Shelly's mother dies in a car accident, she is sure she will be able to find her and bring her home but no matter where she looks, there is no sign of the ghost she wants to see the most. Shelly accumulates ghost after ghost as she tries to fill the void her mother left but no amount of stray neighborhood ghosties will sate her and Shelly is forced to learn an important lesson about letting go.


This heartwarming and hopeful little story for 'tweens' has lessons in folklore and friendship but mainly focuses on death and grief. Despite that Shelly is used to ghosts, she is not prepared to lose a loved one and buries her grief by hoarding stray neighborhood ghosts in her bedroom.

I really enjoyed how the plot and character development revolved around the five stages of grief. Shelly goes through denial, anger, and even tries bargaining with the music-loving ghost that lives in the cemetery before losing hope. Thankfully, the fifth stage of grief is acceptance and Shelly learns many important lessons throughout the story before it wraps up beautifully!

This is an excellent coming-of-age story with life lessons that will stick with you. It's also not very spooky at all considering it has ghosts so don't be afraid to give this ghost story a try! 

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