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A hilarious new series from Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver, authors of the bestselling HANK ZIPZER books!Billy Broccoli is new to the neighborhood, and wants cool friends and a spot on the baseball team more than anything. But the one thing he never wanted is his own personal ghost. So imagine his surprise when he ends up sharing a room with Hoover Porterhouse, a funny ghost with a whole lot of attitude.When an obnoxious school bully sets out to demolish Billy, the Hoove comes up with a plan for revenge. It's all in the Hoove's Rule Number Forty-Two: Stay cool. And like it or not, Billy and the Hoove have to stick together if Billy ever wants to get in style, get even, and conquer the school.
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 31, 2011
      Hank Zipzer collaborators Winkler and Oliver launch the Ghost Buddy series,
      introducing an endearingly uncool hero with the dorky name of Billy Broccoli. Despite his acute clumsiness and preference for wearing fart-themed T-shirts, Billy is articulate, witty, and good-hearted. None of which, unfortunately, will win him popularity in his new middle school, especially since his mother is the principal. This new series would fall clearly into the genre of silly realistic
      fiction were it not for the presence of a 113-year-old ghost, Hoover Porterhouse, into whose room Billy has just moved, and who undertakes the task of turning Billy into a hip and agile 11-year-old. After Billy’s initial fright, he accepts the ghost’s company and guidance while Hoover, forever age 14, struggles with his own ghostly goals. An amusing cast of broadly drawn secondary characters play their expected roles—snobby older half-sister, embarrassing mother and stepfather, pretty and kind classmate, and neighborhood bully with an embarrassing secret. Readers will root for Billy to conquer his klutziness as well as the bully; his final feel-good triumph is satisfying. Ages 8–12.

    • School Library Journal

      April 1, 2012

      Gr 3-5-Eleven-year-old Billy Broccoli's name is only the start of his problems in the coolness department. He's also plagued by a fondness for T-shirts with fart jokes on them, and he has the grace of a clown with two left feet. Now he is starting at a new school, and his supreme dorkiness is sure to cause him trouble. Fortunately, he has an ally: the ghost of 12-year-old Hoover Porterhouse III, who is stuck haunting the house that Billy's family has just moved into. Hoover is the sultan of cool and coaches Billy on what to wear and how to act. Despite his best efforts, though, the boy's first days of school are disastrous, mostly due to a bully named Rod Brownstone. Hoover calls for revenge, but in the end Billy manages to stand up to Rod. Billy is still nerdy at the story's conclusion, but it looks as though Hoover will be sticking around, which means that there may be hope for him yet. This title is chock-full of nuggets that will have boys cheering, from the grossness of Billy's embalmed tonsil to the hilarity of Rod's attachment to his baby blanket. What's more, parents and educators will cheer when Billy stands up to Rod without resorting to bullying tactics. Readers may wonder how Hoover died, but hopefully the authors will reveal more about the sassy apparition as the series progresses.-Amy Holland, Irondequoit Public Library, NY

      Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      December 15, 2011
      Grades 3-6 Soon-to-be sixth-grader Billy Broccoli has a new family (his mother has recently remarried), a new school, and a new room, which unfortunately still bears the pink pony wallpaper of its previous occupant. It also comes with its own ghost, Hoover Porterhouse. The Hoove is everything that Billy is not: confident, mischievous, and gifted with fashion sense (well, for 99 years ago). The Hoove is also in danger of failing his ghost exams if he cannot pass Responsibility and Helping Others. Billy's goals, on the other hand, are to avoid public humiliation and make some friends. Can the two boys, who are initially at odds, learn to cooperate and help each other reach their goals? Much like Billy and Hoover's relationship, the series is a work in progress as it lays the groundwork for future installments. Billy and Hoover have a snappy repartee, although the Hoove sometimes sounds more modern than turn of the twentieth century. Billy is a likable protagonist whose trials and tribulations should resonate with middle-school boys. This odd couple shows promise.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

    • The Horn Book

      January 1, 2013
      Billy Broccoli's new house is inhabited by teenage ghost Hoover Porterhouse. Hoove helps Billy navigate a new school and defeat a nasty bully ([cf2]Zero[cf1]); second installment [cf2]Mind[cf1] finds Billy, with Hoove's help, convincing classmates that he's a mind-reader, but Billy opts for a less impressive (honest) feat in a competition. Billy and Hoove's snarky repartee make these books' lessons go down easy.

      (Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
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  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.1
  • Lexile® Measure:530
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:1-3

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