A GIRL CALLED CORPSE BY REECE CARTER, ILLUSTRATED BY SIMON HOWE
What a wonderfully spooky adventure this is! Corpse is a ghost who has fashioned a body for herself out of candle wax, seaweed and shells. She lives with her friend Simon, a Huntsman spider, on “the-rock-that-doesn’t-exist”, that sits in a bay near “the-town-that-nobody-visits”. Corpse shares the rock with three witches, Gorflunk, Scraggleknee and Worse Witch. They know she exists but have never quite managed to catch her and dispose of her forever.
Corpse can perform some simple spells to help her survive, but all of them depend on the sparkling ore that comes from the Spellspring on the rock. Unfortunately, this ore is running out and from the moment Corpse is told by a fading ghost she must escape the-rock-that-doesn’t-exist and find a treasure that was stolen from her, she is catapulted into an action-packed race to find it before the witches. She is helped by her lost but now found, friend, Girl, a fellow ghost. Corpse and Girl must be on their guard and dodge the evil witches, avoid Death Proper, outwit the double-dealing Merchant and outrun killer skeletons.
Reece Carter has created an incredibly rich world for Corpse to inhabit, full of characters so easily realised due to words filled with humour and imagination. As Corpse races through her adventure, the reader is swept along with her on a wave of creepy characters and fearsome situations, all of which she needs to overcome. Corpse’s voice is endearing as she tries to work her way through her complicated life with mostly only a spider for company. Her insights into her circumstances and the possibility of finding her own personal history draw in the reader and invites them to join her in her quest.
The illustrations by Simon Howe are wonderful. The drawings of Corpse, graveyards and the occasional mushroom (my personal favourite thing to see) are detailed and suit the narrative perfectly with danger sitting alongside hints of hope. The last picture in the book is one of my favourites. Reece Carter’s Corpse is a character that will become a cherished friend as the series continues.
For Ages: 8- 13 years
Number of Pages: 352
Published: October 2022 Allen & Unwin
Themes: Friendship, family and fortitude