Buster and the Race Car Graveyard

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver, champion team owner, businessman, NASCAR analyst, and inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He won a record 15-straight NASCAR Most Popular Driver awards from 2003 to 2017, consecutive NASCAR Busch Series Championships in 1998 and 1999, and the prestigious Daytona 500 in 2004 and 2014. He is the author of the?New York Times?bestselling?Racing to the Finish?and?Driver #8, as well as the Buster the Race Car children's book series. Dale lives in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Amy, and their two daughters, Isla and Nicole.Ela Smietanka is a Polish illustrator. She followed her dreams of becoming an artist, graduating from the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, where she now lives with her husband, two sons, and a cat named Brush. Ela loves the mountains and tries to reach the summit once a week.

Gr 1-3--A group of race cars face their fears and find their bravery as they venture into a graveyard one dark and spooky night. After telling ghost stories around a campfire, the car friends decide to travel to the race car graveyard. Their leader, Coach Hog, tells them that as long as they drive forward, all is safe, but if they turn around the ghosts will catch them. The illustrations capture the dark spookiness with a mix of blues, purples, and blacks that effectively set the scene. The emotions on the cars' faces are easily identifiable, adding to the effect that will have readers cruising right along for the spine-tingling adventure. When the cars finally encounter the ghosts, all turns out well in the end, and the cars learn that helping a friend in trouble can bring out the bravery in anyone.VERDICT: An entertaining, slightly spooky tale with a friendly group of race cars makes for a charming story with plenty of appeal for young readers.