l to r: Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua

Four friends team up to form a business that helps spirits pass on to the afterlife peacefully in this middle grade novel that will indulge paranormal fancies, and shows promise to be the start of a new series. 

Raveena and her brigade of quirky friends find an antique rotary phone that belonged to the former founder of Hollow’s Peak, and soon discover it possesses the magical ability to ring spirits on the other side. Aiko, Blair, Lillian, and Raveena, or the Fierce Four as they call themselves, aren’t just going to let an opportunity like this pass them by. Together, and with the guidance of the town psychic, the seventh-graders form a business they’ve dubbed Spirit Service to help ghosts pass on, and help the living communicate with their deceased loved ones. With the fee they charge customers to use the phone, they can fund their school’s now-defunct arts program. But it’s not just financial gains that the group is after. Since her grandmama’s passing, Raveena has felt a void in her life. Her family isn’t addressing the grief, but maybe this magical telephone will connect her with her grandmother.

This story is a good blend of spooky and fun, and sibling authors Sarena and Sasha Nanua create a wonderful cast of main and secondary characters that you can rally (or hide) behind if things get too scary. 

Along with fun imagery and incidents such as a hockey-stick-wielding ghost granny who materializes in the middle of a roller-skating rink, there are lots of unusual/offbeat plot devices and unexpected plot twists to keep readers guessing and engaged. For example, the Fierce Four have a guidebook in the form of a phone directory that comes with the phone to indicate the ghosts’ “spirit level,” to determine the appropriate tactics to let them move on in peace. The group tackles big goals such as dealing with ghosts and funding the arts program, but also deal with ordinary-yet-big goals, including fulfilling a grandma’s wish that a character pursues their passion, or mending a broken friendship. The novel also tips its hat to the cultural mosaic that is Toronto with its diverse cast of characters and details such as various food fusions like tzatziki spaghetti. 

With the zany premise of a magical telephone ringing into the spirit world the reader is taken on a fun adventure with four friends as they navigate angst and personal dilemmas – and bring peace to their neighbourhood through one phone and a whole lot of spirit.