Review: 'Charlie Bumpers Vs the Squeaking Skull' by Bill Harley

Charlie Bumpers Vs the Squeaking Skull by Bill Harley, Illustrated by Adam Gustavson, 2014, Peachtree, $13.95, hardbound, 176 pages. Category/Genre: mainstream. Cover: appropriately spooky. Where we got it: publisher. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million. 


Halloween is fast approaching, and Charlie Bumpers and his best friend, Tommy Kasten, don't want to take their little sisters Trick-or-Treating. Fortunately for them, school mate Alex McLeoud asks them to come to his house for a Halloween sleep-over to go Trick-or-Treating and watch scary movies.  

Unfortunately for Charlie, he doesn't do well with scary movies. But rather than admit this to his friends, he allows his older brother, Matt, to experiment on him with a 'de-scaring' technique. 

On the school front, there's going to be a Halloween costume contest Charlie desperately wants to win. But he has no idea what to go as this Halloween. 

Filled with humour and realistic situations and problems, this book is sure to please any kid between the ages of seven and 10 -- and probably some who fall outside that range, as well. 

If you like this one, try: Charlie Bumpers Vs the Teacher of the Year, by Bill Harley; and Charlie Bumpers Vs the Really Nice Gnome, by Bill Harley. 

Don't forget the other stops on the tour!

Friday: The Late Bloomer's Book Blog .