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Title: The Ministry of Ghosts
Author: Alex Shearer
Narrator: Christopher Webster
Format: Unabridged
Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
Language: English
Release date: 04-02-15
Publisher: Nudged Audio
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13
Publisher's Summary:
Thruppence and Tim don't know what to expect when they ring the bell at the house with dusty windows. The Ministry of Ghosts has been given three months to prove the existence of ghosts!
As it seems that children are particularly magnetic to ghosts, Thruppence and Tim are added to their ghost-catching team. And although neither of them are scared by talk of ghosts or monsters, they could never have imagined what happens next....
Critic Reviews:
"A creative and fascinating idea, well written with interesting characters and scenery." (Guardian)
Members Reviews:
Very nice story
The Ministry of Ghosts is a very nice fantasy about - what else? - ghosts. It reminds me of the fantasies of Eve Ibbotson. I think children will be drawn to the quirky characters. I also enjoyed the ending.
An Odd, But Oddly Likeable, Book
I wasn't at all sure about this book when I started it. The Ministry of Ghosts has been threatened with closure by a government bean counter unless it can prove the existence of ghosts and a need for the Ministry to continue in existence. Understandably, this has thrown the four employees of the Ministry into a tizzy. That, my friends, is what occupies the first quarter of this book.
Now, this first quarter has some very funny, sly, deadpan lines, but they read more a like flippant adult drawing room comedy of manners or a political satire than like anything approaching a middle grade ghost/adventure tale. The sketches of the Ministry employees, the bean counter, and workings of a pointless government agency are edgy and insightful. There is word play, colorful and descriptive writing, and real style, but all of it is restrained, understated and seemingly aimed at older readers who might appreciate colorful eccentrics and satire.
But get this. Once we get past that quarter mark the plot kicks in as the Ministry decides to hire a "weekend boy" to help them, on the theory that children seem to like ghosts and tend to attract ghosts. Thereafter, Thruppence, a girl who loudly and stubbornly demands that the Ministry hire a weekend "person" and Tim Legge, (whose family has abandoned crafting wooden legs in favor of banisters, bats, and other long round wooden things), both show up and are awarded the job in partnership. The balance of the book covers their adventures as they search for a ghost.
And this part is ridiculously funny. The two kids are like a well polished double-act, and they play off each other nicely. The humor is still sort of under-stated and deadpan, but it's clever, dry and rather droll. I like deadpan humor, and I think younger readers get dry and understated bits and don't need a regular diet of farts and toilets and the like. That said, it will take a young reader made of pretty stern stuff to soldier on through the first part of the book.
The upshot is that this book offers many rewards, not the least of which are the two very bright, funny, and likeable kid heroes and the sly humor. But a reader has to slog through a lot of underbrush before finding the trail.
(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
Mixed thoughts
The Ministry of Ghosts is a long, forgotten building on bric-a- brac street in London.
