Fearless 8-year-old Desmond Cole runs his own ghost-hunting service to investigate monsters, spirits and other otherworldly mischief makers and is assisted by his sidekick best friend, Andres, who struggles with chronic fears. Simultaneous and eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

Meet Desmond Cole! A fearless eight-year-old who runs his own ghost patrol, looking for ghosts, monsters, and mischief makers everywhere. Oh, and he just so happens to be my new best friend'and thank goodness! Because I'm afraid of everything.

Welcome to Kersville, a town with a spooky history and a collection of ghosts and spirits who are major mischief-makers. Most kids spend their days without ever seeing or dealing with a ghost, but some kids get stuck with a haunt. When that happens, they call Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. Desmond is the hall monitor of ghosts and monsters. There's no job too spooky, icky, or risky for Desmond.

I'm not like that at all. My name's Andres Miedoso. I'm Desmond's best friend. We do everything together'including catch ghosts. Seems cool, right? There's only one problem: I'm afraid of everything.

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol chapter books are perfect for emerging readers. - (Simon and Schuster)

Meet Desmond Cole! A fearless eight-year-old who runs his own ghost patrol, looking for ghosts, monsters, and mischief makers everywhere. Oh, and he just so happens to be my new best friend…and thank goodness! Because I’m afraid of everything.

Welcome to Kersville, a town with a spooky history and a collection of ghosts and spirits who are major mischief-makers. Most kids spend their days without ever seeing or dealing with a ghost, but some kids get stuck with a haunt. When that happens, they call Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. Desmond is the hall monitor of ghosts and monsters. There’s no job too spooky, icky, or risky for Desmond.

I’m not like that at all. My name’s Andres Miedoso. I’m Desmond’s best friend. We do everything together…including catch ghosts. Seems cool, right? There’s only one problem: I’m afraid of everything.

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol chapter books are perfect for emerging readers. - (Simon and Schuster)

Andres Miedoso is still afraid of everything as a grown-up, even after all his adventures with Desmond Cole. He lives in New York City with his family, and he remains best friends with Desmond but returns to Kersville only when he’s needed.

Victor Rivas was born and raised in Vigo, Spain, and he lives outside of Barcelona. He has been a freelance illustrator for thirty years, illustrating children’s and teen books, comics, and concept art for multimedia games and animation. - (Simon and Schuster)

Andres Miedoso is still afraid of everything as a grown-up, even after all his adventures with Desmond Cole. He lives in New York City with his family, and he remains best friends with Desmond but returns to Kersville only when he's needed.

Victor Rivas was born and raised in Vigo, Spain, and he lives outside of Barcelona. He has been a freelance illustrator for thirty years, illustrating children's and teen books, comics, and concept art for multimedia games and animation. - (Simon and Schuster)

Booklist Reviews

Miedoso casts himself as a timorous young narrator whose hopes of leading a "normal-boring" life are dashed immediately when the house he and his scientist parents move into proves to be haunted by a terrifying poltergeist. Fortunately, his outgoing next-door neighbor, African American Desmond, is an experienced exorcist with, it turns out, a large customer base. Unfortunately, before he gets a chance to help, Andres' parents chow down on the lasagna Desmond's mom has brought over, which turns out to be disgustingly haunted. In the midst of all this, it comes out that the ghost, named Zax, is a mischievous but friendly sort who doesn't really want to scare anyone. So Andres loses his fear (if not his aversion to slime) and ends up poised to join his new friend in further ectoplasmic encounters. Black-and-white cartoon illustrations on almost every page of Andres' large, well-leaded narrative add plenty of visual appeal to a crowd-pleasing setup episode aimed at fledgling chapter-book readers. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

Andres Miedoso is afraid of everything, especially the ghost in his new house. Luckily, "coolest, bravest kid in the world" Desmond Cole lives next door. Running Desmond's "Ghost Patrol" business out of the garage, Andres and Desmond discover both bad and friendly ghosts. Through the easy-to-read first-person narration and plentiful engaging illustrations, readers will gasp and laugh alongside Andres in these first installments. [Review covers these Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol titles: [cf2]Ghosts Don't Ride Bikes, Do They?[cf1] and [cf2]The Haunted House Next Door[cf1].] Copyright 2018 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

What happens if you move to a new town and your house is haunted? Andres is about to find out!Andres Miedoso—his last name means "fearful" in Spanish—is "definitely not the coolest and bravest kid in the world." In fact, Andres likes normal-boring and understands normal-boring, because he is normal-boring. But when the brown-skinned, curly haired Latino child and his family move to Kersville, he finds out his new home is anything but normal-boring. Fortunately, his next-door neighbor, a black boy named Desmond Cole who is the same age as Andres, is "the coolest, bravest kid in the world." Desmond's business as stated on his business card is "Ghost Patrol." How lucky should a boy feel to live in a haunted house? Very—if you're Desmond. Not so lucky if you're Andres. But when the ghost eats a lasagna that makes him sick and tells them he's been moving from house to house, Andres feels sorry and invites the ghost to stay as long as he promises "not to do any sp ooky stuff." A deal is struck, a friendship is born, and a new series for chapter-book readers gets off to a good start. Simple text, short chapters, and plenty of illustrations will appeal to emerging readers who prefer just a little shiver with their story—and to other readers too. (Suspense. 6-9) Copyright Kirkus 2017 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

This amusing first book in the Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol series is narrated by Andres Miedoso (the book is written pseudonymously), a nervous "normal-boring" Latino boy who moves to a new town and befriends his neighbor Desmond. Desmond runs a ghost-hunting business out of his garage, and it's a good thing: Andres's house turns out to be haunted, and he'll need Desmond's help to deal with the mysterious noises, floating furniture, and other instances of paranormal activity, including a silverware creature that manifests in the kitchen and sends Andres fleeing in terror. The large font, ample b&w illustrations, short chapters, and funny-spooky story line should make this a hit with scaredy-cats and brave readers alike. Final art not seen by PW. Simultaneously available: Ghosts Don't Ride Bikes, Do They? Ages 5–9. Illustrator's agent: Justin Rucker, Shannon Associates. (Dec.)