Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver.

Scholastic UK.

ISBN: 9781407132280

RRP: $9.99

Release date: August 2012.

Age: 8+ years.

Reviewer:  Vicki Griffin. BA-UNE

With Henry Winkler as one of the authors I am impressed, he is best known for his role in the TV Series ‘Happy Days’ as the ‘Fonz.’ His passion for children along with Lin Oliver certainly shows within the pages of this book.

Billy Broccoli (such a cool name) – the main character – never thought he would end up sharing a room with a teenage ghost! Yet that’s what happens when Hoover Porterhouse (the third) – a teenage ghost – shows up and makes Billy his best friend. The ghost is funny and according to Billy has an attitude problem and this is when the fun begins.

The antics Hoover gets up to are funny, one in particular peeves Billy; His Sunday excursion is to float into Mrs. Moreno’s house and rearrange her furniture while she is out on her 1.3 mile jog. However as he heads to her house he realizes he isn’t in the mood for a prank! In all his 99 years of being a ghost he had worn himself out trying to impress and entertain Billy. This had never happened to him before.

Billy and Hoover get into lots of mischief from mind reading through to antics at school and having a crush on Ruby, a girl at Billy’s school. Hoover also discovers Billy is being picked on by a boy named Rod at school and he wants to protect him, he really wants to punch this loud mouthed kid in the  nose but decides it would be better to scare him off.  He starts by lifting Billy’s school desk off the ground and vibrating it, Rod is getting nervous.  Hoover and his antics scare Rod so much he races out of the door and Hoover figures he’ll leave Billy alone now much to Billy’s relief.

This is one of those chapter books that I believe boys can relate to more than girls; it is full of mischief, adventure and a ghost! There is also a sneak peek at the next in the series and it sounds delightful!. Great read for most children. *** 3 stars.