The Girl and the Ghost - Hanna Alkaf

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⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

Pink is a pelesit (Malaysian ghost), and after his master dies, he finds her granddaughter to be his new master. Suraya is an outcast, and so she's happy to have Pink for a best friend, but when Suraya makes a new friend at school, Pink's malevolent side becomes more apparent.

I love that this book by a Malaysian author and set in Malaysia got picked up by a North American publisher. It's very steeped in Malaysian culture, but is still very accessible for North American kids. I loved that cultural tidbits I was able to pick up, and the inclusion of the Malay-English dialect.

Anyway, other than that, this is a book about friendship and family much more than it is a ghost story. Pink does have a mean streak, and some of the things he does to others is kind of creepy, but I definitely wouldn't call it a horror book. The fact that all of the creatures were Malay instead of American meant I really didn't know how things would get resolved, so that was really refreshing.

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