The ghost tree

Gr 2--5--Asim loves everything spooky, thanks to his mom's tales of mythical creatures from her childhood in Guyana. Unlike his mom, the fourth grader believes those monsters are real, just like the ghosts in the cemetery he avoids on his way to school. When a class project inspecting local biomes takes his class to the graveyard (and to an evil tree with a ghastly face that oozes black goo), it opens up Lion's Gate's secrets about the strange happenings that surround its island residents. As the goo turns people into smelly, grumpy fiends who eat anything in sight--even bugs!--Asim's newfound crew (including science-minded Rokshar and foodie Max) must use their scientific wits and ghost smarts to defeat the tree and save their town. This is a delightfully creepy adventure with an enjoyable educational component. Readers will observe the sleuths using the scientific method to draw various conclusions about the tree and its effects while encountering advanced terms like hypothesis, temperate, and coniferous. Delightful gray scale illustrations accentuate key scenes, breathing life into Deen's characters and providing additional information about supernatural figures from diverse cultures. Notes from Asim's journal in the back matter lend an endearing dimension of authenticity, and an author's note includes more information about Dutchman tree lore. Asim is depicted with brown skin and hair; secondary characters have a range of skin tones. VERDICT An excellent series starter and contribution to the supernatural mystery genre, perfect for older chapter book readers easing into early middle grade. Highly recommended.--Ashleigh Williams

A spooky adventure rooted in Guyanese folklore. It's a good thing that fourth grader Asim Macinroy loves creepy stuff, because the new island town his family has moved to--Lion's Gate, Washington--is one weird place, from the mysterious lab where his mom and dad work to the strange lights and hovering objects at night, not to mention the monstrous-looking tree in the cemetery. Asim quickly finds himself befriended by Rokshar Kaya, who aspires to be a scientist and cultivates a far more skeptical attitude toward the supernatural than Asim. But when the tree appears to be infecting people and turning them mean, including their beloved teacher Mx. Hudson, who is nonbinary, the duo work together to come up with a solution. A promising start to a new series, this simple, fast-paced illustrated chapter book nicely blends scientific processes with folklore--Asim's mother, who is Guyanese (his father presents White), tells Asim about Dutchman trees, said to be inhabited by human spirits. The tale is never overly frightening, and the open-endedness of the story is especially effective, leaving readers to decide what really happened and whether they are Team Asim or Team Rokshar or somewhere in between. The author's note offers a compelling description of the folklore of the silk cotton tree that inspired the story, giving a glimpse into history and culture. Illustrations depict Rokshar as brown-skinned and Mx. Hudson as light-skinned. An easy, breezy read with just the right amount of chills. (Fiction. 6-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.