Spirit Hunters is a Properly Chilling Middle Grade Novel [Review]

Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh

Series: Spirit Hunters

Spirit Hunters, the first book in an upcoming series, is a classic haunted house tale with a Korean American perspective. (This book is #ownvoices for Korean American representation.) Harper’s family has just moved from an air conditioned apartment in New York to a stuffy old house in Washington D.C. Harper knows the move has something to do with a fire at school and a serious accident that put her in hospital, but she has no memories of the incident. Harper is wary of her new home, especially when she learns of its’ supposedly haunted past from her new friend Dayo. When Harper’s usually sweet little brother Michael starts acting sullen and mean, Harper and Dayo begin investigating the history of the house in an attempt to uncover the root of Michael’s behaviour. Harper unblocks her memories halfway through the book, remembering everything that happened around her accident as well as the critical fact that she can see and communicate with ghosts – a skill that Harper will need to use to her advantage if she wants to save Michael from a nasty ghost’s possession.

What sets Spirit Hunters apart from other middle grade books with ghosts is that Spirit Hunters feels properly frightening. The sharp change in Michael’s personality demonstrates the threat that Billy, the older boy who haunts the house, can be. As Harper and Dayo uncover more of Billy’s history, they learn just how awful he was when he was alive. Billy is a real threat to Harper and her family, and the creepy happenings he raises around the house invoke the same kind of chills I experience when reading adult haunted house stories.

In addition to being a ghost story, Spirit Hunters deals with themes of cultural identity. Harper is Korean-American and has a Korean grandmother who lives near Washington, but whom she’s rarely met because her mother and grandmother are estranged. Harper eventually reconnects with her grandmother and learns that she is a mudang, a shaman who can hunt spirits, and that Harper has the same ability to do so. Family conflict arises because Harper’s mother does not have that ability and denies the existence of ghosts. Racism is also addressed, not as a primary theme in the novel but something that Harper, as a visible minority, has to deal with in her everyday life.

The Bottom Line

Recommend for readers who love truly frightening books. Extension activities could include filming a book trailer or sharing ghost stories from other cultures/comparing them to Korean beliefs about ghosts.

Further Reading

• Author website
• Read an excerpt (see ‘read a sample’ on the left side)
• Interview @ School Library Journal
• Review by Alex @ Randomly Reading
• Review by Karen @ Ms. Yingling Reads
• Review by Dana @ Kids Reads
• Review @ Publishers Weekly