Amelia Shadows is the daughter of Jonathan Shadows – The Darkest Magician of all time.
She wishes she was just as powerful as her father, or even just to get her magical aim right! The walls of their home suffer the consequences, every time she misses her target.
Shadows Fall is a magnificent large home, but Amelia is alone again, with her famous father away on business once again. Usually, she is looked after by her tutor Gustave. He happens to be a ghost, but Amelia is quite used to that.
Expecting things to be as always when her father is away, she is surprised to meet a new ghost. He informs her that her father has sent him to keep an eye on the house and those in it. Amelia tries to tell this new ghost that this is the job of her tutor, but Gustave has suddenly disappeared.
When he does show, he doesn’t look like himself at all. He advises Amelia that the new ghost is none other than his old headmaster, Hans Dieter Geizkragen. He ran the Katzenjammer Academy for Boys and Assorted Waifs, in Vienna. He was known as the toughest headmaster in all of Europe.
It’s not long before Amelia is as much annoyed by Hans, as Gustave is afraid of him, and together they decide – Hans must go!
Illustrated in bold but muted shades, this graphic novel’s setting is easy to imagine and feel. A large old house with only one girl and two ghosts floating around it, aids the difficult problem of getting rid of one of the spectral inhabitants.
One ghost being afraid of another because of their past lives was interesting, and Amelia Shadows is a brave girl standing up to a bully.
A simple plot that will be enjoyed by many.
Thank you to Net Galley and Papercutz for my ARC.
Author / Illustrator – Matthew Dow Smith
Age – 9+
Graphic Novel
(2026, Papercutz, Graphic Novel, Ghosts, Bossy, Ex-headmaster, Magicians, Magic, Spooky House, Tutor, Courage, Plan, Working together)