Ghosts, by Reina Tegelmeier

NOT RECOMMENDED

A lot of folks love Reina Tegelmeier's graphic novels, but this is the first one I encountered and it's a flat out Do Not Recommend.   Many activist book reviewers have already done the legwork for me so it's very easy for me to articulate why this book is not a good choice, and I thank Debbie Reese, Laura Jimenez, Amy Cheney, and Beverly Slapin for all of their hard work that I am sourcing. Even the image above comes from American Indians In Children's Literature.  

1. In this book Tegelmeier appropriates and distorts what she sees as Mexican/Latinx culture, including using names that wouldn't be used, presenting distorted portrayals of rituals and myths, and building upon a distressing lack of research. Here are three reviews more fully addressing and articulating these concerns from Debbie Reese, Laura Jimenez, and Beverly Slapin. 
2. Furthermore, when Ms. Tegelmeier has been asked to address these concerns, she has doubled down, as Amy Cheney has meticulously documented, and insisted on her right to create this book in this way, even when it marginalizes and injures the community she is trying to "celebrate."  

Don't waste your time on this one. There are books and graphic novels with strong Latina girls; there are books about Dia De Los Muertos and/or the murderous California Missions that are appropriate and accurate; there are lively and fun adventure stories that do not step on marginalized cultures in building the plot. De Colores: La Raza Experience in Books For Children is an excellent place to find all of these themes and more. 

*Please note that my son states that there is one good thing about this book, and I concur: it centers his favorite drink, Jarritos.