The Five O'Clock Ghost

The Haunted Library #4

by Dori Hillestad Butler, Aurore Damant (Illustrations)

Kaz and Claire are called in for another ghostly mystery, and this ghost is always right on time. When Claire's friend tells the young detectives about his five o'clock ghost, Kaz wonders if it could be his own missing brother, Little John. Kaz and Claire search the house up and down, but they can't find any trace of Little John--or any other ghost. Yet when five o'clock comes along, the strange occurrences come back again...
 

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Fiction, Ghosts, Chapter Books, Childrens, Fantasy

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2015

About the author

Dori Hillestad Butler is an American author of more than 40 children's books, as well as magazine stories, plays and educational materials. Her first book, The Great Tooth Fairy Rip-Off, was published in 1997. She is known particularly for The Truth about Truman School, a 2008 young adult title focusing on the subject of cyber bullying, and for My Mom's Having a Baby (illustrated by Carol Thompson), which in 2011 appeared on the American Library Association's list of most commonly challenged books in the United States for its portrayal of conception and childbirth. Her 2010 mystery title, Buddy Files: Case of the Last Boy, won the 2011 Edgar Award for the best juvenile mystery published in 2010. Before becoming a children's author, Butler worked for three years as a page at a library.

Reviews

[Catarina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started it, then put it down. A one-sitting read, probably equates to about less than an hour of my time, so avid readers would likely finish in less than 30 minutes. Cute, little ghost read for children! Love that there are so many stories in this series.

This one was fun because it introduced some extra characters.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think what I like best about this books is how much Kaz is growing and developing with each book. He's facing his fears and learning a lot, and that's pretty cool.

On the other hand, I wish Claire would do the same. She's very much who she was at the start, which makes me a little sad as I think she has a lot of potential too.

So this time there's a 'ghost' causing all kinds of chaos every day at five o'clock. Some clever investigating ensures, though with Beckett, I want to say "READ A BOOK" sometimes - Claire relies WAY too much on the internet. Bad Claire!

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in this series My daughter and I love. It originally started at a book fair at her school where she picked up the first in the series. Since then we have been faithful and hungry for more. When I told my daughter that the next book isn't until August, four months from now her response was what day so she can count down... ha. A fun series, easy to read, encourages being brave and adventurous. I may not be counting down the days but I am looking forward to spending time with my daughter reading the new book. Come on August!!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book it's so good I love the part when the ghost says blah blah blah it's so funny and I love it when Kaz found his brother little Jon and they hug I also loved when claire is so happy when her parents come home and I like every day when claire goes to Davids house she always sees the old laddy planting flowers and listening to music on her radio and Clarie says hi and she waves and I like that Kaz and cizmo in the water botel to go outside because ghost blow away when they go outside and I love how funny daniels little brother and he is scared of the ghost i like how brave clarie and kaz are and they find ghost well i guss kaz is a ghost and i thought the ghost was dAnliels older sister ali but it was this nice old man but he didint know he was doing any thing wroung but his raido axidently conet to danels house and he loved his raido becase he can talk to his frends that live far away and he moved here to live with his daghter and her husbened and there sons i love at the end when kaz whent though the wall to save littel jon but little jon wasent in trouble he was just looking at these boys playing with these cool train toys i was mad when it ended with a ciffager i loved this book .

[Linara Kolosov · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 5 O’Clock Ghost is the fourth book of The Haunted Library series by Dori Hillestad Butler. The more I read this series to my 5-year-old, the more we enjoy the books. It is wonderful to see how Kaz learns something new every book and that little by little he finds the members of his family. This book also gives an interesting topic to discuss with kids – radio and how it works. I also loved Becket’s remarks about using the books instead of the Internet to find things.
Short summary: C and K ghost detectives become popular, new clients call for help. They have a ghost who appears in their house exactly at 5 o’clock every day. This strange ghost makes a garage door open, a table lamp turn on, and TV’s picture flicker and a loud terrifying voice boom “BLAH…BLAH…BLAH”. This time Claire has to make some research and to learn something new to find the “ghost” and Kaz finds his brother and learns a new ghostly skill.

[Betsy Ellor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of this wonderful series is that a ghost boy gets separated from his family and ends up in a library where he meets a living girl who can see him. The form a ghost detective agency and go around solving mysteries and along the way trying to reconnect the boy with his family. It's a great series, the illustrations are fun, the characters are funny and the stories are imaginative.

In this book they are trying to figure out what is causing weird disturbances in the house of a friend every day at 5 o'clock. Butler always seems to come up with new fun ideas for her mysteries. Can't wait to read the next one.

My cautious son can really relate to the cautious nature of the main character and I love how Kaz in each book is pushing himself to conquer his fears and grow. It's a great lesson for my son at this stage.

[Jane Maple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kaz is reunited with his brother who comes to library one evening by way of the bookdrop. Clair and Kaz investigate a family whose ghost only appears at 5pm. We suspect the teenage sister who clearly doesn’t want to watch her little brothers but in the end it is a ham radio enthusiast. This is the first book where Clair feels she needs ghost hunting tools. She uses a magnifying glass and a dust buster covered in tin foil.

[Miss Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new series for the public library I work at. I do an after school age book club. We did any books with the word "library" in it to honor September being Library Card Sign-up Month. The boy that show up for the program was reading the first two. We had a great discussion. Great book for grads 3-4. Cute little series about a ghost who lived with his family of ghost in a school until it got torn down then the adventures begin.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason this one felt like a slog to get through. A kid calls Claire and Kaz to help find a ghost in his house because every day at 5 o clock the Tv's start making noise and get wavy lines, the garage opens and the lights turn on by themselves. They think its a ghost until they realize how wide spread the impact is. It's actually just a neighbor hosting a radio show and the interference causing waves. They do find Little John though and get more clues as to where Kaz's mom may be.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This book was sooooo funny,” my second grader declared. I admit, it had a great storyline. She’s fascinated by the whole concept. The ghosts, the solids, the family ... she just adores this clever series!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This time they work together to find Kaz's little brother. Interesting hints of who Beckett is.
Bonus points for describing amateur short wave radio operators.

[Kiara Muriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lectura amena, rápida y divertida. Pensé que estaría más divertida, pero comprendo que es un libro para la niñez y pre-adolescencia. Espero que los otros estén mejores.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading this series with my 7 year old daughter, and we both really like it. They all end on cliffhangers, so be sure you have access to the whole series, and read them in order.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute read aloud series.

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love hontid Library.

[EthantheErudite · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great, I'm glad that Kaz could go through walls at the end.

[Vita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Гуд

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, intriguing, cute.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun series for early readers involving mysteries, science, ghosts, and libraries. The Haunted Library series is one of my favorite series for young readers. Not only are they easy to read but the mysteries are interesting and the characters fun. I was a bit startled when I thought I'd figured out the answer to the mystery of the strange occurrences of five o'clock and I turned out to be wrong. Usually with this type of mystery I'm able to figure out the answer long before the ending, but here it turned out to be something else. Those kind of surprises are always fun. Plus, it's fun watching Kaz grow into his ghostly powers as he continues to search for his missing family.

[Lance Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming story with a well-structured mystery, though one with a solution that almost certainly will be far too obscure for today's generation of children. Even so, this is a generally enjoyable book with an engaging cast of characters for readers aged 6 to 8 (Lexile measure 530L). Read our full review, here: http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/myst...

[Mary Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as books for 2nd graders go, I don't think it gets much better than this. The mysteries are actually really fun to get to the bottom of. The world of ghosts Butler has created is unique and mysterious. The characters are mostly awesome. The only think I don't like is the way Claire and Kaz sometimes talk to Beckett, the older ghost that lives at the library. They are little sass mouth kids. I want to shake them.
But, no other complaints besides that!

[Nicole Wrightson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a fun read just took a while to finish not because of the book.

I love the mystery in the book and how it isn't caused by a ghost this time. It is fun reading a book where the answer is something a bit outside of the box. I love, love these books as the ghosts are not scary in them.

[Elfeeza Ehsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "ghostly" case C & K Ghost Detectives got in this sequel is better than the last. I loved it! It did seem more complex and definitely required a bit more research on the writer's parts I think Dori pulled it off well. I loved the idea and the storyline and I also loved that Kaz learned something about his abilities. Another 5-star rating in this series.

[Texas State Poder]

This book is about a boy named Kaz and a girl named Claire and the boy is a ghost and claire is a normal girl that can see Kaz


Kaz- Is a boy that is a ghost and he wishes he was a normal human even thogh he was before






Claire-

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

Momma says: Claire is such a brat to Beckett. Kaz is such a whiner about his ghost skills. Just go through the dang wall already.

Eleanor says: I liked this book because the author has a great imagination. I love that Kaz believed in himself.

[Heather Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

megan winter reading 2016, children's book, chapter book, series, the haunted library, ghosts, friendship, mystery, first grade, second grade, third grade,

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun read. Kids thought the mystery was pretty interesting, especially when they found out one of their Grandpas is a ham radio operator.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author tricked me on this mystery. I really thought it was one character making the "ghost" appear at 5 o'clock; however, I was very, very wrong.

[Cat]

My library has this series and they are fun to read on my lunch breaks at work. I'm becoming more and more annoyed by the ghost boy though. He's awfully whiny. =/

[Keith Scheessele · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 w/Hope.