Ghostopolis

Ghostopolis by Doug Tennepal (Scholastic) ISBN: 978-0-545-21027-0 (painting and photo by my wife)

Plot Summary

Garth has a terminal disease; there's no cure and he's going to die.  He also happens to live in a world where ghosts frequently pop in from the afterlife.  Frank Gallows, a ghost hunter chasing a night mare (a skeletal horse), accidentally sends Garth to Ghostopolis with the mare.  Gallows wants to head the extraction team to rescue Garth, but his boss Lieutenant Brock takes him out of the field.  Determined to make up for his mistake, Gallows calls on his former flame: the ghost Claire Voyant.  She's been working on a machine to get to the other side.  In the afterlife things have been looking bad.  A living mortal named Vaugner (? a reference to the composer Wagner?) has taken everything over, summoned bugs from the underworld as muscle, and rules with a fleshy grip (humans aren't constrained by the physics of the afterlife, so they have special power: flight & the ability to summon and throw plasma balls.  Vaugner fears Garth because Garth has great power.  Garth and Vaugner eventually battle one another in an epic fight where they both use telekinesis to reshape the buildings around them and fight like Japanese Kaiju (you know like Mothra v. Godzilla).  Even after defeating Vaugner, where does this leave Garth?  He's still ill.  The track record of father's in his family is still poor.  And how can Gallows and Voyant overcome their most basic difficulty -- he's alive and she's a ghost.  

Critical Evaluation

The full color artwork is wonderful and inventive.  And Tennapel knows when pictures will drive the action better than words.  His style is cinematic and full.

(Tennapel, 2010, p. 30-31)

Because the book can be read in about an hour due to the low amount of dialogue and sections like the above, the book might be ideal for reluctant readers or struggling readers.  The book is fast paced, filled with action and humor, and imaginative art work  (including a 12-foot Tuskegee Airman with a glowing green aura, a man-sized cricket with a Snidely Whiplash mustache, and a mummified T-rex).

Reader’s Annotation 

Garth -- a young boy with a terminal illness -- accidentally gets sent to the afterlife by ghost detective Frank Gallows.  Now Gallows and his girlfriend Claire Voyant have to travel to the afterlife to save Garth from bugs from the underworld and Voyant's ex-boyfriend Vaugner who rules Ghostopolis.

Information about the author 

Doug Tennapel is perhaps best known (at least by me) for creating the cult classic videogame Earthworm Jim (or as true fans call it EWJ, since the abbreviation actually has more syllables than the written out title).  Other notable works by Tennapel include The Neverhood (a PC game), the cartoons Catscratch and an animated series focused on Earthworm Jim.  He's published a series of children's books: 

Doug's 5 children's book series called "The Strange Kid's Chronicles" were published by Scholastic. They're out of print and getting difficult to find. The covers were illustrated by Michael Koelsch.(Tennapel, 2013).

He's also written the comic books/graphic novels Tommysaurus Rex, Cardboard, Powerup, Ratfist, and Earthboy Jacobus among others.  

Genre

Graphic novel/adventure/fantasy

Curriculum Ties

The book wouldn't likely fit many specific curricular concerns, but it might be useful for getting struggling or reluctant readers reading.  It might also be a fun option as a summer reading suggestion.

Booktalking Ideas

1) Describe or read some of the humorous passages (pages 130 to 131 offer the dining options of Ghostopolis: tarantula on a stick or mummified elephant poop).
2) Show some of the more inventive pictures.

Reading Level/Interest Age

6th grade and up.

Challenge Issues

Violence; the book also deals with death.

I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the book I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.
 

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

I'm a big Earthworm Jim fan (such a great game, mostly for its animation style).

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips


Tennapel, D. (2010) Ghostopolis. New York: Scholastic.


Tennapel, D. (2013). Children's publishing. Retrieved from http://tennapel.com/childrencreate.html