The Great Ghost Hoax

by Emily Ecton, David Mottram (Illustrator)

Overview

The Secret Life of Pets meets Scooby Doo as furry friends hunt down a ghost in this hilarious sequel to The Great Pet Heist that is “silly business galore” (Kirkus Reviews)!

Butterbean is bored. She and the other pets pulled off a heist once, but that was like a million years ago. Nothing exciting has happened since then. That is, until Mrs. Third Floor shows up at their apartment, convinced there’s a ghost in the building.

Mrs. Third Floor’s rental unit is showing signs of paranormal activity—eerie noises, objects moving when no one is there, fish disappearing from the tank overnight. The pets decide to investigate. Soon they’re confronted with a bigger problem than just ghosts: professional ghost hunters who are offering to drive out the spirits for a hefty fee. It’s up to Butterbean and the rest of the gang to save Mrs. Third Floor from losing her life savings to scammers, all while dealing with some really annoying new animals. Can the furry friends uncover the truth in time?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534479920
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Series:	The Great Pet Heist
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Emily Ecton is the author of The Great Pet Heist series as well as a number of middle grade books published under the names Emily Ecton and Emily Fairlie. She is also a former writer and producer for Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!, the Peabody Award–winning comedy news quiz on NPR. She lives in Virginia, with Howdy, a dog who dreams of someday going to a supermarket. Visit her at EmilyEcton.com.

Dave Mottram is an illustrator living in Ohio who worked as a graphic designer for many years, which led him to pursue his passion for illustration. He paints traditionally and digitally with color and layers and line. He loves tacos, animals, tikis, and nerding out over art supplies. Visit him at DaveMottram.com.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

Editorial Reviews

09/03/2021

Gr 3–7—Ecton's sequel to The Great Pet Heist pits pets against the paranormal. Butterbean, Mario, Walt, and the rats become ghostbusters as they investigate the strange happenings in a vacant apartment. But while putting their ghostbusting skills to work, they uncover a scam that endangers Mrs. Third Floor's livelihood. Mottram's black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout; they are realistic and complement the humorous tone of the plot. Despite the length of the book, the narration style keeps the action moving; this would be an excellent choice as a read-aloud in schools. Kids new to the series can enjoy this sequel without reading the first, while those already familiar with the group of oddball friends can find a few new reasons to enjoy, one being in the form of an octopus. VERDICT This funny animal adventure caters to a wide audience, and will look appealing on a Halloween display.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake P.L., Alta.

School Library Journal

2021-06-24
The Strathmore Building’s pets and other residents, human or otherwise, are literally suckered into investigating rumors of a poltergeist in vacant 5B.

Sodden towels and other signs of intrusion in 5B may reduce the landlady to hysterics, but the multispecies team members assembled in Ecton’s TheGreat Pet Heist (2020) are made of sterner stuff (mostly) and are ready for new exploits. The discovery that the culprit is not in fact a ghost but a celebrity on the lam—to wit, the local zoo’s camouflage artist and popular performer, Jerome (“Mr. Wiggles” to use his stage name)—leads to a series of challenges ranging from persuading the arrogant octopod to slither back to his adoring public to foiling a slimy pair of scam artist ghostbusters. Though the animal cast is unusually diverse (Jerome isn’t even the only octopus hanging out in the Strathmore’s plumbing, as readers of the opener will know), the human one, a Black police officer aside, presents White. Still, in Mottram’s lamentably infrequent illustrations everyone glows with character, and closing views of one octopus offering a thumbs up and another in the midst of a gleeful cannonball end the romp on high notes.

Silly business galore, with more than a few sly tentacular twists. (Paranormal. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews