Ferris by Kate DiCamillo

The summer before fifth grade, Ferris’ life is chaotic to say the least. She has a six-year-old sister determined to become famous enough for a Wanted poster. Her uncle has moved into the basement with a calling to paint the world. Her grandmother Charisse swears there’s a ghost living in their while her father is certain a family of racoons has inhabited the attic.

Can Ferris have a normal summer while she investigates the mystery of the ghost, engages in spy work for her uncle, and helps her father uncover the racoons?

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LJR’s Thoughts for Ferris

With a whimsical fashion similar to Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo tells Ferris’ story like only she can. A quick and charming read, it feels a little like Because of Winn-Dixie meets Beetlejuice meets Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Encyclopedia Britannica. An odd mixture, I know, but once you read it, you’ll see.

Though it avoids all the common agenda we’re used to seeing in children’s books (especially middle-grade novels), Christian families are going to want to be aware of a few spiritual things including the ghost, which is a common theme throughout the book, as well as a couple of things that could be seen as putting Christians in a negative light. See the Content Considerations below for more details.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Christian Morals/Values: 3 out of 5

Story: 5 out of 5

Read-Aloud Value: 5 out of 5

Discussion Value: 5 out of 5

Recommended Post: The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle by Taryn Souders

Content Considerations

In our usual LJR fashion, we try to find anything that Christian families may want to know about ahead of time to address, skip, or dig deeper into. Take a look at what we found below. Our take on Discipleship Opportunities is at the bottom of the review.

• Positive Behavior: You’ll love the relationship between Ferris, her family, her best friend, and others in the community. It definitely has a Because of Winn-Dixie vibe in this area. Worth the read just for this. It brings in the bad (through the mean Sunday school teacher) and good (the beautiful, peaceful death of a character near the end) that will be a wonderful discussion for how to live our lives as Christians.
• Negative Behavior: Ferris’ sister, Pinky, is a spunky six-year-old who is determined to land herself on a Wanted poster and engages in antics that would get her there if she were an adult. Her parents seem a little hopeless in this area at one point but overall, the family cares deeply for this little spitfire. We learn early in the book that a man has left his wife, he asks a child to spy to see if the wife misses him, it’s innocuous but still worth noting. A woman complains about a man being picked [by God] to paint the history of the world but not “hold down a job” while doing it is ludicrous. A character sticks out her tongue in a playful way. A child bites an adult.
• Language: Pinky calls people “fools” often. A child is referred to as a “proper”/”genuine terror.” “Dang it” and “Gosh, dang it.”
• Violence/Intense Scenes: The ghost is a central thread of the novel and a few scenes have wind blowing and other things that make it appear the way many ghost scenes do. A character is diagnosed with a serious disease. Mention of a woman who had died in childbirth prior to the beginning of the book. A character reads a Bible to a family member. A character’s husband has died, one we do not know. An exterminator comes to find the raccoons and some children are worried about the raccoons being killed (it resolves in a way that sensitive kiddos will more than likely be okay). A child is in serious danger but it is resolved in a way that kids would be okay with it. A beloved character dies.
• Religion/Spirituality: Ferris describes a Sunday school teacher as mean because she “made kids cry by describing in great detail what it would be like to burn in Hell for all eternity.” Reference to the “next world” and the “Great Beyond.” A child asks “What’s the point of love if people die?” A character has a couple of instances where she almost sees around and outside herself, in other rooms, etc. She also has dreams which were visions.
• Racism/Discrimination: None.
• Romance/Sexuality: A little boy asks to hold a little girls hand and she knows she never wants to let go of him, not romantic. Mention of the “universe” having a sense of humor. A character says a vision is delivered in what he thinks is a “biblical fashion.” An older gentleman woos a woman and they hold hands.
• Substance Usage: A character smells cigarett smoke in a restaurant.
• Miscellaneous: Aunt Shirley mentions that every woman has a “right to be beautiful.” It’s mild but a good place for discussion. A character says another character is probably “relieved to be rid of him.” A woman says “I’m going to make you as pretty as God intended you to be” and could be seen as good or bad depending on how you handle it.

Discipleship Opportunities

Often these verses can lead to misuse and being misunderstood out of context so use these as a springboard for deeper study.

• Perhaps the most important thing quoted in the book (and by DiCamillo herself in interviews) is that “Every good story is a love story” and perhaps this is the best thing you can talk to your kids about. Because God’s greatest story is in fact a love story. Start with John 3:16 but I would go all the way to John 3:18 because we can’t rightly know the depth of the good news without understanding the bad news.
• The most common thread throughout the book that should be addressed is the ghost, which only one character and an animal “see” and another character has visions and almost a sixth sense. When digging into scripture, the following verses will start you off along the path of investigating if there are actually ghosts as well as what the Bible says about talking to the dead and being a medium. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15; Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Matthew 25:46; Leviticus 19:31; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
• The book has a common theme about death and dying. A few scriptures to begin your discussion. Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 21:4

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