Sam Wu is NOT Afraid of Ghosts Book Review

 

Sam Wu is Not Afraid of Ghosts

Tsang, Katie, Tsang, Kevin and Reed, Nathan. SAM WU IS NOT AFRAID OF GHOSTS. New York: Union Square Kids, 2018.

Sam Wu is Not Afraid of Ghosts is a breezy, fast-paced story of imagination, friendship, and sibling friendship. Sam Wu is an imaginative, energetic young boy who is obsessed with a Star Trek-like television show called Space Blasters. When an "unfortunate incident" (he will not speak of it) happens on a school field trip, and he acquires a reputation as a scardey-cat, Sam sets out to prove the opposite. He eventually proves that he is brave, but maybe not in the ways he thought a boy should be.

 

 Sam Wu Book Talk

Sam Wu has a fraught relationship with his sister, Lucy and her cat Butterbutt. Lucy is brave and logical, a counterpoint to Sam's frenetic, though imaginative antics. She seems to just want to hang out with her brother, but Sam is a little self-absorbed, caught up in his very big feelings. When Lucy comes to his aid at several points in the novel, Sam realizes that Lucy's got his back in both physical and emotional ways. Sam's two friends Zoey and Bernard are loyal friends. They go along with Sam's large flights of imagination, stand up for him against Sam's arch-nemesis Ralph Philip Zinkerman, and try to understand a little of Sam's Chinese-American food and customs. They help Sam face some of his fears: that his friends won't understand his Chinese-American food and customs; that his friends and family will figure out that he is actually a little scared. Zoey and Bernard help him to realize that it's okay to be a little scared, but that some things are worth facing. These four characters embody the novel's theme that it's always better too face our fears together. As Sam Wu says, "Sometimes the brave thing to do is to face your family and friends, even if you don't want to" (p. 52), because those friends and family will probably support you and help you face them.

 

Katie and Kevin Tsang are Not Afraid of Trees Interview

This novel is not quite a graphic novel. There are a lot of illustrations by Nathan Reed to reflect the chaotic and constant inner thoughts and big feelings of Sam Wu. They are bold black ink drawings and doodles. Reed does a good job rendering the zany feelings of Sam Wu's inner doodlings. He does particularly well depicting the wackiness of Sam's impossibly tall hair. However, the drawings are very generic. It could be any boy with bouffant hair, and Sam Wu is Chinese American. All of the Wu family present as white in the pictures. Perhaps this is done so that the reader can see themselves in the pictures. However, I think it is a disservice to the Wus, especially since one of Sam's fears is that his friends will find his family's Chinese-American customs (butchering  a real duck for dinner, not wearing shoes in the house), food (roast duck, congee, turnip cake), and his superstitious Chinese grandmother) strange and off-putting. It's a part of the theme and a big fear, so it is surprising that the drawings do not reflect his professed identity.

Program Connection

Students will discuss some of the ways that the illustrator Nathan Reed illustrates Sam Wu's inner thoughts. Students show examples from the novel and create an anchor chart of illustrations. In their writing journals, students will brainstorm some of their fears. They will choose one and write about it, using the techniques discussed in whole group. Those who want, will share their products.