Emma Phineas Wilkey, 11, born beneath a Ferris wheel on the county fairgrounds, has been “Ferris” ever since. “Every good story is a love story,” says Ferris’s grandmother, Charisse, who delivered her. But Charisse has heart problems and is spending more and more time resting, which worries Ferris. Charisse is also communicating with a ghost. Ferris’s Uncle Ted has moved in to work on a masterpiece, although he spends more time asking Ferris (white) to find out if his estranged beautician wife, Aunt Shirley, misses him than painting. Ferris’s little sister, Pinky, 6, is a self-proclaimed outlaw-in-training who dreams of being on “Wanted” posters and does her best wreaking havoc in order to reach her goal. Ferris’s dad is obsessed with raccoons in the attic. Ferris’s beleaguered mom seems resigned to the chaos. Ferris’s best friend, Billy, is a talented pianist with a drive to play a single composition, “Mysterious Barricades.” Ferris’s fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Mielk, whose sternness and expectations gave Ferris and Billy an appreciation for the many vocabulary words with which their lives have been enriched, is newly widowed and grief stricken. In a masterfully told story set perhaps a generation ago, with tight plotting that belies the sense of shapeless summer days, these vivid characters surround Ferris. But it’s Ferris’s own observations, actions, questions, feelings, and ability to take an occasional bird’s eye view that propels this novel detailing not a single love story but a tapestry of them. (Ages 8-12)

The beloved author of Because of Winn-Dixie has outdone herself with a hilarious and achingly real love story about a girl, a ghost, a grandmother, and growing up.

It's the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris's mother's chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris's grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans--wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a specter with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?

As Charisse likes to say, "Every good story is a love story," and Kate DiCamillo has written one for the ages: emotionally resonant and healing, showing the two-time Newbery Medalist at her most playful, universal, and profound.