Ghost Squad

The novel’s characters consist mainly of powerful girls and women who fight to save each other and the city of St. Augustine from a supernatural terror. By banding together, these groups demonstrate the power of females to prevail over threats and do a great service for their community.

The two protagonists, Lucely and Syd, are middle-graders who discover a scheme by evil ghosts to conquer the city. Both girls are smart, energetic, well-meaning, and feisty, and they dedicate themselves to protecting their families and neighbors.

The girls each have capable grandmothers who guide their respective families. Mamá Teresa is a ghost who presides over the firefly spirits that live in the willow tree next to Lucely’s house. Mamá is both supernaturally powerful and warmly loving, especially toward Lucely, who relies on her abuela for reassurance and encouragement. Syd’s grandmother, Babette, is a witch who descends from a long line of powerful brujas who, when they’re not exiled by angrily biased neighbors, stand guard over St. Augustine and protect it from evil spirits.

Among the Luna family ghosts, the young women are more energetic and powerful. Aside from Mamá, Macarena possesses the greatest magical power and assists Lucely and Syd in their fight against evil spirits. Frankie, one of Lucely’s deceased cousins, was a champion woman boxer in her day, and she helps defeat ghost soldiers who threaten the girls at the El Castillo de San Marcos fortress. Two ghost cousins, Manny and Benny, also contribute.

Two male characters—Lucely’s father, Simon, and Mayor Anderson—stumble into problems they can’t escape, and it’s up to the ladies to rescue them. The mayor is kidnapped by the ghost of Eliza Braggs, who assumes his persona and uses his office to plan a ghostly invasion of the city. At first, the girls believe the mayor is the evil mastermind, but they learn he’s merely been made a pawn in Eliza’s game.

Meanwhile, Simon struggles to make ends meet with his ghost tour, but competition and low ticket sales put the tour in peril, and the bank threatens to foreclose on his ancestral home. Simon’s sadness over losing his wife years earlier prevents him from accessing his own ability to see ghosts; thus, there’s little he can do to help. Were he to know about Lucely’s midnight cemetery quests to locate a spell and save the day, he’d forbid her from taking such risks. Lucely realizes she must continue her quest without her father’s aid.

Lucely and Syd share an energetic, daring sense of adventure as they ride their bikes across town, search cemeteries for clues, and inspire courage in each other. They see themselves not as stereotypically shy, fearful females but as brave, active, vigorous explorers and defenders of their city. They even wear uniforms that, in the style of superheroes, declare them to be the “Ghost Squad.”

The main antagonist is a woman, Eliza Braggs, who feels intense resentment toward the Purple Coven. One of the Coven’s early members, Pilar, won her son’s heart, but Eliza hated this, and her anger turned violent: She had Pilar killed and the Coven banished. Even in death, she wants to destroy them, saying, “They were always such an inconvenience—a group of troublesome women” (208). Her demented plan to conquer St. Augustine is to destroy the women she considers too powerful for the city’s good.

Coven witch Babette leads the counter-attack. The power of the firefly spirits, combined with that of Babette’s witch sisters and the undoing spell from Lucely and Syd, defeat Eliza’s forces and return them to the afterworld. Even Simon, who realizes his love for his daughter is more important than his anguish about her mother, regains his confidence and helps the team defend the town.

It takes a group of dedicated females—girls, ghosts, and witches—to rescue St. Augustine. Without them, the city wouldn’t have stood a chance.