thank you netgalley for this ARC! I'm SOBBING this was so cute and so sweet and explored the long term effects of grief really well and just !!! I loved it! I loved the queer rep! I loved the grief/mental health rep! I loved the spooky vibes and supportive families and friends and adults in general. This will be great for young YA and upper MG and anyone who wants to read a lantinx spooky ghost story about family and grief and friendship.

This was cute, but that's the most I can say about it.

It's very easy to empathize with Jasmine. She's navigating grief and middle school friendships while being haunted, and Oshiro does a good job in showing how badly these things affect her. She gets mad, she is constantly confused, and she doesn't know how to talk to the adults around her, specifically her avoidant mom, about it. Jasmine really felt like a fully realized protagonist.

I also really liked how Oshiro portrayed Jasmine's relationships. Between her growing friendship with the GSA and the adults eventually getting involved, Jasmine had a great support system by the end of the book. I really like element in fantasy YA where adults do get involved and help their kid in need; it grounds the story closer to reality while providing good parental/adult figure representation for the kids reading this.

One thing that I didn't like was the story's pacing. Despite the book's ~250 page length, the story takes the slow approach in order to build up the characters and setting. Normally, I'd like that, but it got repetitive by the halfway point. Additionally, the explanation of the paranormal was given at the second to last chapter, and it was way too easily resolved for it to be emotionally satisfying. I won't say what it was, but I just found it kind of bland.

All in all, this was a good book, but the slow, repetitive pace and climax were lacking for me, personally.

Jasmine has a big problem, actually two. One she is haunted and he other is no one believes her. Until she moves and finds new friends, and these friends believe in ghosts and are trying to find one to catch. The adventure begins there, your going to love what comes next.
This is a really good book about finding what you need when you need it more than anything. Jasmine had given up on making friends, so she hadn’t planned on making any in her new school but than she found the two best friends she could have possibly chosen, that showed up at the right time. I loved this book and any one interested in ghosts and finding them and equipment used to find them will love this book too. I really hope there will be more in this series

Jasmine and her mother have moved multiple times and yet a ghost continues to haunt Jasmine. At her newest school, Kingsley Middle School, Jasmine finally makes friends and sets out to get rid of the ghost that has been haunting her. This book was a very simple read, and while I enjoyed the storyline between Jasmine and her friends, I was left wanting more with the relationship between Jasmine and her mother. The story includes references to the LGBTQ+ community. As an elementary librarian, this book is probably not one that I would recommend to my students, but it would be appropriate for middle schoolers looking for a light read.

I loved this one!! Such a beautiful way to discuss difficult topics and includes important life lessons for people of all ages. I would recommend this to anyone!

2.5 rounded up. This book was just ok for me. There were certain aspects of the book that I just don’t feel are age appropriate, example messing with ouija boards and tarot cards. At that age, the concept of repercussions from using things such as this, are not quite there I guess you could say. I love that it touched on grief and how to move forward. Overall, as a mother of a kid in this age group, I wouldn’t recommend

I really enjoyed this story of grief and moving on and finding community who understands. This was intense and while I didn’t necessarily consider it scary, there is a lot of emotional stuff happening. Learning all the different stories of loss those around Jasmine have experienced and her coming into her own was so emotionally good. I really loved her friendship with Bea and Jorge and the community she was able to find and build after moving this fourth time. A really great story of grief, I’m so glad this book exists.

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group | Starscape books for this advanced reader's copy. This was a fantastic book about grief. Jasmine has been haunted ever since her Papi died. Like a literal ghost has been following her for years now. But no one will believe her. Now Jasmine and her mami just moved and she is determined to fit and make friends. Jasmine meets Bea and Jorge at the middle school's Gay Straight Alliance group. Bea and Jorge are already obsessed with the supernatural so when they hear about Jasmine's ability to see ghosts, they are excited and thrilled to help her. This was a great book with representation and how to deal with grief.

Thank you #NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book Jasmine is Haunted. This book is a poignant journey for a young girl, her family, and her friends. While I was slightly confused over the timeline at the beginning the rest of the book was very easy to follow. This book tackles the hard topic of grief and how people handle it at different stages in their life. Overall, this was a great middle grade read!

I started out really liking this story, until the author brought in the Tarot cards and Ouija board.. In my thinking this is not the type of content our youth should be influenced by. I honestly believe it can be damaging and have a very negative effect on our children.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. There were a few disjointed sections in the beginning, particularly the transition from the first to the second chapter, which left me scratching my head, but after that I liked it a lot. I appreciated the Latinx main characters and the subtle and age-appropriate LGBTQ+ themes. I teach elementary through 4th grade and felt this was a little too scary for this age group, but if I taught middle school I would recommend it, and will share the title with my MS colleagues.

Mark Oshiro's "Jasmine is Haunted" is an emotional exploration of grief and identity with the supernatural as the vehicle. The novel follows Jasmine, a teenager grappling with the recent loss of her father, who moves with her mother to a new town and into a house with a mysterious past. Jasmine is a complex protagonist: she is struggling with her grief, confronting the eerie occurrences in her new home, and navigating friendships as an eighth grader.

Middle grade readers will appreciate the age appropriate suspense and the adults in their lives will hopefully appreciate the life lessons woven through the text. The characters surrounding Jasmine in the book are from various backgrounds which adds richness to the storytelling. The Spanish phrases added in without explicit explanation make for a fun learning experience for those that don't already know what they mean.

The story does start off building very slowly, as the author establishes Jasmine's grief, her adjustment to a new environment, and fleshes out the characters. This may require some patience from readers expecting immediate paranormal intrigue, but the emotional conclusion does pay off.

Jasmine Is Haunted
Mark Oshiro
A ghost has been following Jasmine Garza ever since her Papi (father) died. Mami refuses to acknowledge there is a spirit/ghost or something supernatural. Jasmine and her Mami (mother) decide to move to an apartment in East Hollywood. Jasmine wants a normal life. Her friends Bea Veracruz and Jorge Barrera are interested in the supernatural. Bea wants to be a paranormal investigator and Jorge is afraid of the hereafter. Jasmine shares with them about her ghost. They believe her and they are thrilled. They are determined to prove that the ghost is real. Jasmine becomes increasingly upset as the ghost bothers her more and more. Jasmine needs to find the answers to several questions including: why the ghost is focused on her, why her mother doesn’t want to discuss the past and why doesn’t her father reach out to her
This is an interesting look a grief and dealing with death. I enjoyed the characters.
Thank you Netgalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

Queer characters, normalizing all types of sexuality, ghosts, family, friends .... there is much to love about this book.

In this middle grade novel, Jasmine Garza has a ghost problem. Her mom uses escapism to avoid the issue, but they never get too far. A family mystery is revealed and the power of loss and grieving is honored.

If you love stories with a mysterious element, ghostly encounters, and love of family, this book is for you!

This is a wonderful, sensitive, and fun story following a group of ghost and monster hunting middle schoolers. The characters will be very relatable for many students and it does a great job of talking about social issues without taking away from the story itself.

Was this book kind of cheesy? Yes. Was it still very cute and beautifully written? Also yes. I love middle grade fantasies so much.