Taxi Ghost is a fun YA graphic novel that follows Adele, a young medium, as she first comes into her powers. Great recommendation for middle school graphic novel fans!

Taxi Ghost invites us into chilly winter wonderland Montreal, where we meet Adèle and her family. Adèle gets quite a surprise when, upon getting her first period, she begins to see the spirits and souls of the city!

Adèle soon finds that the ghosts need her help—the city and its community (ghosts included) are at stake! (Gentrification impacts ghosts, too!)

Things I really liked about this read:
- Use of color in the ghosts and ancient ghosts!
- Illustration was beautiful and inspiring.
- Talks about menstrual cycle in an empowering, community-building way.

Without spoiling anything, I have to mention how touching the storyline of the Soul Eater was—that scene had me in my feelings. The ending scenes are gorgeous (an understatement) and emotional. I loved the humanity and community shown throughout this story, in both the ghost and human realm. The storyline is mellow and humorous enough to remain a cozy read yet compelling enough to want to tear through in a sitting. It was a joy to read from cover to cover.

Taxi Ghost follows a young medium as she first begins to see ghosts. I love how colorful and detailed the illustrations are, and I found the story to be very heartwarming.

I received an ARC from Random House Children's | Random House Graphic via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Adele just had her first period and learned that seeing ghosts is a family tradition in here family all in one day. Now she has to make a decision: listen to the ghosts on the street and become a medium or follow in her grandma's footsteps and disavow the medium lifestyle entirely.

I really enjoyed this. I'm not quite sure the period party at the beginning was necessary, but I recognize that's probably just a side effect of how I was raised. (Not ashamed of the period story, but it's always felt like a private event to me.) The art is really great and I liked all the characters. The conflict wasn't too heavy handed for a single volume, so the pacing was really good. I would recommend this to my middle graders at the library.

I loved this story. The graphics were amazing, the colors vivid. Made me want to learn more about media,a. Kids will devour this one!

The main character, Adèle, discovers she is able to see ghosts, an ability that is passed down through her family lineage; however it appears that descendants from the family tree will possess this ability (Adèle’s sister, Helene, was not born with this ability). A shock at first, but Adèle quickly learned not to fear this new discovery and tried to make use of the gift by helping Jules, an elderly ghost, who was concerned for his neighborhood’s expansion from mass condominium developments. Jules, claiming that the developers of these condos are seeking to expand the living cost of the neighborhood, tries to find ways to stop this from happening. At the end, through Adèle’s befriending a male ghost friend named Ambroise at the local library, she was able to expose the developer’s shady tax practices leading the developer to donate and I think give up the development?

I love the artwork as always, even from the Witches from Brooklyn, and find that this story was nice to read. There really wasn’t much more to the book title other than ghosts just hitchhiking different cars who they know go to certain places at a certain time “marking” the cars that are from the neighborhood. Other than that, the main focus was Adèle being a medium to the wandering ghosts in the neighborhood.

I wish there was more action to the book as I feel like it lacks some excitement (there wasn’t a villain involved); the solution to the whole plot didn’t seem to match with the ghost seeing theme because it seemed too simple? I was expecting more of an exorcist kind of book.

Thank you to NetGallery for providing me a digital copy for review!

A fun, fast read that kept my attention a majority of the time! At first I was confused about why it was title "Taxi Ghost", but once it was refrenced to once I could get more into the story because it wasnt what I was expecting.

Love seeing the use of womanhood being a reason for getting certain powers. Feels very "Turning Red" which I love! Would rec to anyone who likes the Berrybrook Middle School series or The New Girl.

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhousechildrens for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

On the very day that Adèle has her first menstrual cycle and the multitude of pimples that comes with puberty, she also experiences her first ghost sighting. Being a “medium” is an inherited trait that her Gran Geneviève had, but skipped Adèle‘s mother and her older sister Helen. Gran Geneviève has turned her back on this “gift” and has outright utilized ghost deterrents such as owning a cat, painting her house electric blue, burning sage and white candles in the house. Gran states that ghosts have intruded on her ancestors’ privacy by showing up at any time, even in the middle of the night, and ruining their lives.

However, Adèle has decided to totally embrace her newfound gift. She discovers she can help her community with this gift when ghosts have asked for her assistance because an unsavory developer intends to buy up houses on the block to create a mega condominium complex. Renegade ancient ghosts make the matter worse when they become destructive which places the blame on the innocent. Adèle works alongside with some ghosts to get control back over her family’s community to oust the developer and the renegade ghosts.

I normally don’t read a lot of ghost stories, whether in graphic novel format or otherwise, usually because they are of a horror or scary nature – just not my cup of tea. However, having read another graphic novel by the author, I was sure that this book would be an amazing and upbeat story. My gut feeling was 100% correct. This was a story I loved, earning a perfect rating. There were many touches of humor which make me chuckle out loud (this does not happen often). I also enjoyed the sweet romance growing between Adèle’s sister and the grandson of one of the ghosts. This is a story not to be missed for readers of any age!

I received an ARC from NetGalley for purposes of an unbiased review.

Taxi Ghost
by: Sophie Escabasse
Color by: Kiwi Byrd
due 9-3-2024
Random House Children
5.0

Such a beautiful, feel-good story of growing up, friendships and "sisterhood". Adele's first period also gives her the ability to see ghosts. These are friendly, helpful ghosts who have bonded to form a group, SSSC. (Spirirts with Souls to Save the City). Adele meets the ghosts at the library, where she also does research on ghosts. Adele lives with her Gram, who tells her seeing ghosts runs in the family, and usually coincides with her first period. She befriends one of the library ghosts, Ambroisie, and they work together to save the city from being bought by a large corporation, to make into expensive condos and shopping.

This was such a fun YA graphic novel, the graphics are well done, with the ghosts being pale and watery. The depiction of ghosts was well done, to be like real people, not a scarey mist-like ghost. They blended in well with the human characters. I enjoyed this fun, relatable story.

Thanks NetGalley for sending this e-book ARC for review.
#TaxiGhost #NetGalley

First, the art style for this one is so crisp and clean and adorable! It was a cute young reader graphic novel.
Honestly wished it was longer and secretly hope more volumes are created in this world to see the characters over time and on more adventures.

What a cute book! I was lucky to receive an advance reader copy of the ebook for review purposes from NetGalley. Adèle is growing up in chilly Montreal who becomes newly aware of the ghosts around her and the. hones her inherited abilities as a medium. As she navigates the world of disgruntled ghosts with unsettled business, she makes friends and solves problems alongside her sister and gran. I adored the illustrations and coloring in this book! I thought it was a solid graphic novel and would recommend it to all middle grade fantasy readers, especially those interested in the supernatural.

3.5 stars. Cute! I really appreciated the frank discussions around menstruation.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Taxi Ghost creates an interesting twist on being a medium. The illustrations were great, and I think readers will enjoy this graphic novel.

This was an incredibly cute and fun graphic novel! The storyline was very unique and the art is wonderful and colorful. I loved how different all of the ghosts were drawn and colored and how they captured different eras of spirits. I think the underlying plot was well thought out and thought it wrapped up a little quickly but nice and happy ever after in the end!

Well that was a unique concept!!...I liked how it all played out in the end. Not to mention the art style was so adorable! The characters are drawn so cutely and everything felt cozy even if it was about ghosts!! And periods lol!

My son enjoyed this book a lot, he enjoyed the character and the illustrations. He is the target audience for this book, so his 5 star rating is the rating I’m using.

Adèle lives in Montreal with her older sister Helen and her grandmother, who runs a small shop. Over winter break, she hopes to spend some time at the library, reading, but when she gets her first period, she finds that she has inherited the ability to see ghosts. Her grandmother has gone to a lot of trouble to NOT interact with the spirit world, so isn't much help, but Adèle does work with one ghost who doesn't want his grandson to sell his house to a wily developer who is trying to ruin the neighborhood. Since the grandmother is also involved in such an endeavor, she is a little more interested in helping Adèle with her new abilities, especially when an especially evil ghost, a soul eater, is on the loose, causing damage in the real world.

Fans of Escabasse's Witches of Brooklyn series will enjoy this one, and will readers who enjoyed Steinkellnerr's The Okay Witch, Paramore's Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song, or Mandanna and Ballesteros' Jupiter Nettle and the Seven Schools of Magic. I really like Escabasse's illustration style, and this will get a lot of love for the period positivity and fighting against gentrification.

4.5/5

I adored this book. If you like the idea of ghosts and mediums that can see them, and you want a children’s book of it this book is for you.

Adele can see ghosts but didn’t know it runs in her family. She meets some ghosts and there are some issues in the human realm that will affect the ghost realm if not dealt with. Because Adele can see the ghosts, they ask for her help. I don’t want to ruin it from there, but this book was not only a cute story but also just so well written and drawn.

I want more from this author and can’t wait to see what future graphic novels are in store.

Welcome Back!

I can not believe we are already in June! I feel like I have read several great books this year and DNF’d a few as well. I am hoping to reach my Goodreads goal this year but if not that is totally okay (I have talked about this some before but my Goodreads goal is a personal challenge for myself and if I do not reach it that is totally okay). I am currently trying to decide what graphic novel or manga I want to pick up next as I just recently finished two! One of them is Taxi Ghost (thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions).

SPOILERS AHEAD

Adèle is looking forward to a break from school where she can curl up read some awesome books, make several trips to the library, hang out with her family, and just relax. However, her plans definitely do not work out when one morning she catches a ride with her sister and hears something or someone in the car. Her sister swears she sees and hears nothing but Adèle feels different. She knows she heard something but they continue their drive. When they arrive at the house of the woman her sister has to work with for the day, Adèle goes inside with her sister and that is when she sees a ghost. She faints and her sister rushes her home where she learns that some people in their family can see ghosts and one of those people is her grandmother. Adèle and her sister live with their grandmother but she has zero interest in talking about seeing ghosts. Since Adèle’s sister does not have the ability she is kind of on her own here. Adèle has to make a choice she can learn from her grandmother and ignore all the ghosts or she can talk to them and see what they want?

I absolutely loved this graphic novel. The characters, the setting, and the plot all caught and kept my attention. I really enjoyed the illustrations as well, the colors were vibrant and I loved seeing the winter environment. The author also has a great note at the start of the graphic novel about where the inspiration came from for this book and I know think about this every time I get into a car. I definitely recommend giving this graphic novel a try when it comes out on September 3rd.

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

***Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!

This was such a lovely little book. It has everything you could possibly want in a story: mediums, cats, ancient ghosts, hacking, libraries, and even period parties. Add in charming graphics, and you get this absolutely fantastic story.

I loved the family dynamics in this, especially the relationship between Adèle and her sister. I think fans of Shannon Hale and Raina Telgemeier will adore this charming, heartwarming story! I know I certainly did.