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The Ghostmobile
Ryan's new friends are ghosts!
When Ryan and his family arrive in Wisconsin, Ryan is convinced his life is doomed. No best friends. No ball games. No biking on the beach. Just a lot of getting back to nature. What a summer!
But that's before the Ghostmobile rolls into Ryan's summer. Ryan's never seen anything like it--and he's never met anybody like Aunt Vira, the ghostly librarian, or her nutty niece, C.C.!
Aunt Vira and C.C. want to get out of their ghostly rut. Ryan and his brothers and sisters are the ones to help. All they have to do is keep the Ghostmobile a secret, follow Aunt Vira's crazy instructions, and solve a 50-year-old mystery.
This'll be one wild summer after all!
When Ryan and his family arrive in Wisconsin, Ryan is convinced his life is doomed. No best friends. No ball games. No biking on the beach. Just a lot of getting back to nature. What a summer!
But that's before the Ghostmobile rolls into Ryan's summer. Ryan's never seen anything like it--and he's never met anybody like Aunt Vira, the ghostly librarian, or her nutty niece, C.C.!
Aunt Vira and C.C. want to get out of their ghostly rut. Ryan and his brothers and sisters are the ones to help. All they have to do is keep the Ghostmobile a secret, follow Aunt Vira's crazy instructions, and solve a 50-year-old mystery.
This'll be one wild summer after all!
151 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1987
78 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 27, 2013
This book reads as though its plot is being held together with scotch tape, but I'm giving it three stars because it's so ambitious--and because it's so weird. Here's the sitch:
It's 1988. Ryan is eleven years old, obsessed with space, and the victim of a common parental crime: his parents are moving the whole family from their beloved neighborhood in Evanston, Illinois, to the Wisconsin countryside right at the beginning of the summer. While Mom and Dad fix up the old Wisconsin schoolhouse that they're converting into a home, Ryan and his three siblings live in tents in the yard, get bitten by mosquitos, and wander around the neighboring cornfields, bored out of their skulls.
Until they see a UFO. No, wait--it's not a UFO, it's ghosts. Ghosts who live in a bookmobile, which is also a ghost. Got that? The bookmobile is a ghost. (In fact, this same book has also been published under the title Ghostmobile.)
If you're following so far, the next thing that happens is that Ryan and his siblings decide to help the ghosts--wait, no they won't--okay, yes they will. They're going to help the ghosts break out of their "haunt pattern" in the Wisconsin cornfields so they can travel the world, and they're going to do it by using--astrology? The Force? Well, it's not really clear, but one thing is certain: whatever it is that they're doing, it's not related to space. Nothing is really related to space. In fact, it's starting to seem like Ryan's obsession with space a giant red herring.
Well, that's basically the book. There's also a circus. And time travel. And selected quotes from high literature. And a vampire reference. And a pegasus reference.
In spite of all that weirdness, the weirdest part may actually be that the author never reveals the birth order of the four siblings. It makes the kids' interactions feel really mysterious and strange.
No wait, the weirdest part may be that the ghosts absolutely don't seem to mind being dead, even though their deaths are pretty fresh.
...Upon further reflection, the weirdest part may be one character's use of the phrase "ghostral projection." Like astral projection. But with the word ghost.
Here is what I appreciate about this book: The author, Kathy Kennedy Tapp, was/is(?) a children's librarian. I feel like she must really love children's literature, and maybe this isn't a polished book, but it's certainly unique, and that's important. I like the Captain's Log that Ryan keeps throughout the book, where he journals as though he's in space.
Tapp seems to have written several books during the 1980s. I wonder what she got up to after that?
It's 1988. Ryan is eleven years old, obsessed with space, and the victim of a common parental crime: his parents are moving the whole family from their beloved neighborhood in Evanston, Illinois, to the Wisconsin countryside right at the beginning of the summer. While Mom and Dad fix up the old Wisconsin schoolhouse that they're converting into a home, Ryan and his three siblings live in tents in the yard, get bitten by mosquitos, and wander around the neighboring cornfields, bored out of their skulls.
Until they see a UFO. No, wait--it's not a UFO, it's ghosts. Ghosts who live in a bookmobile, which is also a ghost. Got that? The bookmobile is a ghost. (In fact, this same book has also been published under the title Ghostmobile.)
If you're following so far, the next thing that happens is that Ryan and his siblings decide to help the ghosts--wait, no they won't--okay, yes they will. They're going to help the ghosts break out of their "haunt pattern" in the Wisconsin cornfields so they can travel the world, and they're going to do it by using--astrology? The Force? Well, it's not really clear, but one thing is certain: whatever it is that they're doing, it's not related to space. Nothing is really related to space. In fact, it's starting to seem like Ryan's obsession with space a giant red herring.
Well, that's basically the book. There's also a circus. And time travel. And selected quotes from high literature. And a vampire reference. And a pegasus reference.
In spite of all that weirdness, the weirdest part may actually be that the author never reveals the birth order of the four siblings. It makes the kids' interactions feel really mysterious and strange.
No wait, the weirdest part may be that the ghosts absolutely don't seem to mind being dead, even though their deaths are pretty fresh.
...Upon further reflection, the weirdest part may be one character's use of the phrase "ghostral projection." Like astral projection. But with the word ghost.
Here is what I appreciate about this book: The author, Kathy Kennedy Tapp, was/is(?) a children's librarian. I feel like she must really love children's literature, and maybe this isn't a polished book, but it's certainly unique, and that's important. I like the Captain's Log that Ryan keeps throughout the book, where he journals as though he's in space.
Tapp seems to have written several books during the 1980s. I wonder what she got up to after that?
January 6, 2023
Listen, I know literature is geared towards various audiences by age and genre. As a child, I would have chosen “The Ghostmobile” for the thrill of a paranormal adventure, the same as I did in October 2022. I am baffled by how often authors are oblivious to this. We buy your paranormal concepts for the wonderment of a meeting or mystery with spirits! Therefore, do not incorporate fighting siblings, annoying or useless toddlers, parents giving protagonists crap about chores, or heroes having to hide what they are up to.... Do not allow drama or filler unrelated to your mysticism, to cut into the action or mystique we set out to read. We should not wade through extraneous baggage, waiting for mystery and action to appear. That is one reason I gave an impressively unique premise two stars.
I love that this book is bonkers. You know it is going to be an unusual hoot from the title and cover. There is such a thing as sticking to bizarre, compelling elements, creating one uninterrupted, exhilarating ride. Rather than wait impatiently for “a good part” to begin or resume, an entire novel can comprise the intriguing contents that attracted our attention. These are books we can’t put down.
Future readers will enjoy this mystery, free of knowing details about it. One more respectful criticism is that pals of the past seemed to easily disregard personal mementoes, which Kathy Kennedy Tapp wanted children and old men to prize highly in 1987.
I love her invention of a situation that everyone would agree is odd: an Aunt and her Niece trapped as ghosts in a bus, circling one route. It is fantastic that they are so intelligent and studious, that they work out how to break free; if outsiders nearby would bravely help them.
I love that this book is bonkers. You know it is going to be an unusual hoot from the title and cover. There is such a thing as sticking to bizarre, compelling elements, creating one uninterrupted, exhilarating ride. Rather than wait impatiently for “a good part” to begin or resume, an entire novel can comprise the intriguing contents that attracted our attention. These are books we can’t put down.
Future readers will enjoy this mystery, free of knowing details about it. One more respectful criticism is that pals of the past seemed to easily disregard personal mementoes, which Kathy Kennedy Tapp wanted children and old men to prize highly in 1987.
I love her invention of a situation that everyone would agree is odd: an Aunt and her Niece trapped as ghosts in a bus, circling one route. It is fantastic that they are so intelligent and studious, that they work out how to break free; if outsiders nearby would bravely help them.
May 26, 2020
I read this book in the 80s and have thought about it ever since but was not able to remember the author or title -- just that there was a ghost bus and a renovation of a school house. I had to spend 30 years to track it down again -- that means it was very good book for a 9 year old me.
July 2, 2018
I don't even remember when I lastly read a book about children that acted their actual age. I love how author managed to create real children and not some semi adult children.
It's a great story that makes you remember that devilish little yourself.
It's a great story that makes you remember that devilish little yourself.
August 23, 2022
So nostalgic!! I read this as a kid probably around 8 (2009) What a beautiful story. I would recommend to any child old enough to read it and maybe for those adults who want to catch up with aspects of their childhood that they missed.
October 28, 2022
Wait this is actually super well written? And surprisingly weird.
I rescued it from the recycling at HPB and im glad I read it. It feels like the type of book dad would have read to us when we were really young.
It's funny how they were so worried they'd give away the secret of the ghost bus.
I rescued it from the recycling at HPB and im glad I read it. It feels like the type of book dad would have read to us when we were really young.
It's funny how they were so worried they'd give away the secret of the ghost bus.
June 21, 2025
The way this book had a grip on me as a kid. Started my love of “horror” books!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews