Mind If I Read Your Mind? (Ghost Buddy Series #2)

by Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver

Overview

New York Times–Bestselling Authors: “A sixth-grader and his live-in ghost further cement their friendship . . . The cast is thoroughly likable.” —Kirkus Reviews

It’s time for Moorepark Middle School’s annual Speak Out Challenge, and Billy Broccoli thinks he’s got it made. With his best friend Hoover Porterhouse—the ghost with the most—by his side, Billy’s got the competition in the bag. Who wouldn’t vote for a demonstration on mind reading?

But when Billy lands a spot on the sixth-grade team, he starts spending more time with his new teammates than he does with Hoover. And the Hoove plays second fiddle to no one! If Billy’s not careful, his secret weapon might just vanish into thin air, leaving Billy to pick up the pieces of a demonstration day disaster!

Praise for Ghost Buddy: Zero to Hero

“An endearingly uncool hero . . . Readers will root for Billy.” —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545469500
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/17/2022
Series:	Ghost Buddy Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	181
Sales rank:	923,615
File size:	974 KB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

HENRY WINKLER is admired by audiences of all ages for his roles as the Fonz on the long-running series, Happy Days, and in such films as Holes and The Waterboy. He is also an award-winning producer and director of family and children's programming, and the author (with Lin Oliver) of the critically-acclaimed Hank Zipzer series. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Lin Oliver is a television producer and writer and the Executive Director of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She coauthored (with Henry Winkler) the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling middle-grade series HANK ZIPZER: THE WORLD'S GREATEST UNDERACHIEVER, and wrote the series WHO SHRUNK DANIEL FUNK? Lin resides in Los Angeles, California.

Editorial Reviews

"Fantastical, suspend-your-disbelief, rollicking and very funny."
–School Library Journal on Hank Zipzer #2: I Got a D in Salami

From the Publisher

Gr 4–6—When 11-year-old Billy Broccoli and his blended family move to a new home, he finds that he must share his bedroom with Hoover Porterhouse III, a 14-year-old ghost who has been dead for 99 years. The Hoove is stuck with Billy until he can prove to the almighty "Higher Ups" that he can be helpful and caring. He's cocky and self-assured, while Billy is insecure and shy. At middle school, Hoove tries to show him some smooth moves by steering him away from wearing panda bear T-shirts and advising him on how to compliment girls. When Billy learns that he must take part in SOC, the Speak Out Challenge, he is a nervous wreck. The theme for everyone's talk is, "Demonstrate Something Special You Can Do." Billy wracks his brain but can't come up with anything better than reciting the alphabet backwards. The Hoove, knowing that this will be a major social blunder, comes up with a better idea: mind reading, with a little behind-the-scenes help from the snoopy ghost. At first, Billy feels guilty about his fake talent, but he starts enjoying himself when it leads to newfound popularity. Winkler and Oliver pepper the story with nonstop humor: Billy's stepfather, who is a dentist, thinks he should demonstrate flossing for his talk, entitled "Floss-O-Rama." Some of the funny parts tend to be overly explained-the jokes might be more effective without so much exposition. The ending winds up endearingly, with both ghost and boy learning what it means to be a caring, thoughtful friend.Diane McCabe, John Muir Elementary, Santa Monica, CA

School Library Journal

A sixth-grader and his live-in ghost further cement their friendship while bootstrapping each other toward better social skills in this airy sequel to Zero to Hero (2012). This time the ghost takes center stage. Dead teen and compulsive prankster Hoover "the Hoove" Porterhouse has but one last chance to earn a passing mark from Higher-Ups in Helping Others and Responsibility to be set free to realize his life- (and death-) long dream of visiting every Major League ballpark in the country. When an upcoming school assignment that requires showing some personal skill sends his shy, breathing buddy Billy Broccoli into a terrified tizzy, the Hoove's "help" with a fake mind-reading act boosts Billy's public status from outsider to awesome. Carrying its messages lightly, the tale ultimately leaves the Hoove with better impulse control even as it moves Billy to twin realizations that cheating is neither good for building self-respect nor the best way to make friends. Highlights include a pair of misty Field of Dreams–style exchanges with the one-and-only Yogi "You can observe a lot by watching" Berra. The cast is thoroughly likable (even the requisite bully will earn reader sympathy, if only for being so gormless). A go-down-easy book that provides both lightweight character building and several comical turns. (Fantasy. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews