Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves-during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement. Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts-most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive-they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety.

Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.ĭad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth-a degenerative breathing condition.

Ghosts raina