With this book Iriarte takes a hard look at the mixed bag of fame and skill. We have the obvious lesson of Abuelo's fame and ego, the way he prioritized himself over everyone else in his life. But there's also the example of Benny's siblings who have always excelled, been the best in their art, and are struggling with finding their place. There's a focus on doing the things that you love, not just because you are good at them. Some of the attitudes are a bit of a mixed bag and the ending is perhaps overly idealized but for the most part it asks good questions for a middle grader to consider.

This was absolutely adorable! Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed is a heartfelt cozy paranormal fantasy that feels like a magical cup of your favorite tea! From ghostly hijinks to the heartwarming revelations, it was truly fantastic!

👻 Paranormal Activity
🎺 Music
🫶 Family
😹 Hoot & a Half
🥘 Delicious Food
❤️‍🩹 Healing
📚 Middle Grade
🫖 Cozy
🧭 Self Discovery

Jose Pablo Iriarte has weaved a beautiful tale of coming into your own, finding yourself, culture, familial connections, grief and healing. I loved the journey of Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed and can’t wait to check out more of Jose Pablo Iriarte’s work!

Thank you so much TBR and Beyond Tours and Random House Children's for the gifted copy!

Shenanigans are my favorite thing and this book is full of them. Join in on this duo’s silly antics and fun! It’s a great read for 8 - 12-year-olds who want a good laugh and a ghost story that’s not very scary. On a side note, family, music, and growing into yourself are heartfelt topics served with humor. A debut novel fantastically done!

Benny Ramirez has just moved across the country and started at a new performing arts school despite not having any obvious talent, unlike his highly accomplished brother and sister. To make matters more complicated…he is the only one who can see the ghost of his famous musician grandfather. This charming ghost story puts Benny and his Abuelo into some hilarious and heartwarming situations as they discover new things about themselves and what they find important in life. This book was so fun and engaging! I loved the family dynamics that were explored and watching Benny grow into his own person. I also loved all the food descriptions as Benny discovers through cooking with his Abuela that food can be an art form of it's own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🎺 have ever wanted to play the trumpet
👻 can see ghosts
👴🏼 never really knew your grandfather
🤩 have really talented siblings

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

After moving cross-country into his late grandfather’s Miami mansion, Benny discovers that the ghost of his famous trumpet-playing abuelo, the great Ignacio Ramírez, is still there . . . and isn’t too thrilled about it. He’s been barred from the afterlife, and no one can see him except his grandson. But Benny’s got problems of his own. He’s enrolled in a performing arts school with his siblings, despite having no obvious talent.

Luckily, Abuelo believes they can help each other. Abuelo has until New Year’s Eve to do some good in the world and thinks that teaching Benny how to play the trumpet and become a school celebrity might be the key to earning his wings. Having no better ideas, Benny finds himself taking Abuelo's advice—to disastrous and hilarious results.

Benny and Abuelo will find that there’s more than one way to be great in this unforgettable, laugh-out-loud tale of family, music, and self-discovery.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was a really cute read. I love ghosts so I knew I’d enjoy it from the get go. Benny is a really sweet kid who underestimates himself (as we see again and again during the story) when he is clearly talented (just not in the generic artist way that most people think of). I really enjoyed his interactions with his grandfather, and seeing how single track minded he was - nothing else mattered but the trumpet. Of course we get a happy ending where everything is resolved which made me happy to see as Benny, being the middle child, really takes on a lot of unnecessary stress from his family and trying to keep them afloat. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future!

I sobbed: what a beautiful book about family and regrets and wishing for more time with people
Benny Ramirez is about a boy who moves across the country with his family to live in his recently-deceased grandfather's old house. However, his grandfather is stuck and while navigating his own insecurities he tries to help his grandfather move on.
The development that all the characters go through was beautiful because they grew as individuals and grew together as a family. It was a mix of Spanish and English that I think will appeal to a lot of kids and I'm very excited to bring this book to my students.

Benny is not talented—not like his sister, the dancer; or his brother, the actor; or his recently deceased abuelo, the famous musician Ignacio Ramirez. He is forced to reckon with this when he and his fam- ily move into his grandpa’s Miami mansion and Benny attends arts school. He discovers Abuelo is actually a ghost who has some un- finished business! Ignacio decides to help Benny become a star, so that the performer can go to the eternal party that is the afterlife. This debut title explores the complexities of family dynamics in a way that shows a love for the characters, including those who are not always the most sympathetic. Arguably the least relatable character, Ignacio, is the
funniest to read about, with his wildly colorful outfits and his lack of self-awareness. As such, he may remind readers of their own weird relatives who are beloved. Though some of the humor falls flat, each emotional scene will riff on readers’ souls. Children who are going through the pain of barely-there parents or family will relate to Benny and Ignacio’s relationship. This pleasant title is best for young fantasy readers who like the paranormal, but do not want the scares.

Benny’s story is a charming, not-scary ghost story with moments of joy,
sadness, and wishing-you-were-there in Miami eating a delicious Cubano sandwich.

This book is quick and has a beautiful message that children need to hear. Time can go by so fast and sometimes the things we want can get in the way of the things that we need. I hope that children get swept away in this story. I love that Benny challenges himself to learn something new and finds out that he finds joy in it. More importantly I love that he was able to find out that his true passion is an art and one that should be developed and explored. This is just a beautiful book.
Thank you so much to Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

After his famous musician grandfather dies, Benny's family moves across the country to live in his house. When Benny discovers that his abuelo's ghost is still hanging around due to some unfinished business: he must make talentless Benny a star trumpet player. Along the way, Benny realizes that maybe the man he looks up to isn't who he thought.

This was a fun book about family and finding joy in what you like, even if you aren't the best at it. I loved how supportive Benny's family was about the kids pursuing their passions.

This was a great debut novel and I'd definitely read from José Pablo Iriarte again.

What a whimsical, hilarious, lovely read. I adore stories about children and their grandparents, especially ones this funny. Benny moves into his grandfather's mansion, and finds out his grandfather is still there--in ghost form. And he's not too happy about it. They soon figure out they might be able to help each other out, and what ensures is pure hilarity. I am absolutely buying this book for my child!

Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed is a heartwarming and hilarious story about a boy who can see the ghost of his famous musician grandfather. The book, written by Kenny Salwey, is an enjoyable read for children and adults alike. The story follows Benny, who moves to his late grandfather’s Miami mansion, only to discover that the ghost of his grandfather, the great Ignacio Ramírez, is still there. Benny is the only one who can see him, and his grandfather is not too thrilled about it. However, as the story progresses, Benny and his grandfather find that they can help each other. The book is filled with light-hearted humor and witty dialogue that will keep readers entertained from beginning to end. The characters are well-developed and relatable. Benny is an endearing protagonist, and his grandfather is a lovable ghost who readers will grow to adore. Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed is also a story about family, music, and self-discovery. The book teaches readers the importance of perseverance, self-confidence, and the power of family support. Overall, Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed is an excellent book that is easy to read and enjoyable for all ages. It's a great addition to any library and is highly recommended for anyone looking for a heartwarming and funny book to read.

Benny Ramirez realizes that he has no talent. His sister does ballet and his brother does theater, but when they move to Miami to live in his grandfathers house, after he dies, Benny needs to find his talent for the new school they will be attending. Joking around his brother and sister say that he plays the trumpet, just like his grandfather, but Benny doesn't have a clue. Will he be able to learn? Will his deceased grandfathers ghost be able to help him?

The Ramírez family moves from Los Angeles, where the father is a movie producer, to Miami, after Benny's abuelo, the famous Latin Grammy winning trumpet player Ignacio Ramírez, dies of a heart attack. Benny's siblings, dancer Cristina and actor Manny, are glad to be attending the South Miami Performing Arts School, where both parents will be working, but Benny is not artistically inclined, and worried about what he will do there. The family inherits the mansion where Ignacio lived, which is filled with memorabilia celebrating his career. Not only there, but the house also has... Ignacio himself, who was turned away from an intriguing party after his death and told that he had to spend more time on Earth. Ignacio encourages Benny to make questionable fashion choices, and even inhabits his body long enough to earn Benny a place in the band at school, playing trumpet, after he showed no talent on his own. Cristina and Manny are struggling a bit at the new school, but the parents seem to be doing okay even though they need to clean out the house. To help, Benny's abuela Gloria comes with her food truck. Ignacio isn't thrilled about this, since the two were divorced because Ignacio spent more time on his work than with his family. Benny discovers that he has quite a knack for cooking. He doesn't do too badly at school, even after wearing his grandfather's clothes, and makes friends with Andrea, a budding playwright, who is interested in ghosts and tries to help him figure out why his grandfather is a ghost. When the Ramírez family decides to hold a New Year's Eve party in the house, a tradition the grandfather ignored, everyone must work together to plan the celebration. Will Benny and his abuelo be able to figure out what is keeping Ignacio tethered to the house and his family?
Strengths: The family dynamics in this book, even without the grandfather, were interesting. Benny thinks his father was fired, and that's why they moved, when his father really quit because he was worried he wasn't spending enough time with his family. Manny wants Benny's attention, but Benny is so involved with trying to learn to play the trumpet that he ignores his younger sibling. Abuela Gloria isn't fond of Ignacio, but is glad to see the rest of her family. Everyone gets along, and the tension comes from other areas, which gave this a very nice feel. The Miami setting is interesting, and Ignacio's mansion is something else. I also enjoyed Benny's sequined wardrobe! This was a well constructed novel with some enticing cooking thrown in.
Weaknesses: For some reason, the idea of dead grandparents coming back as ghosts creeps me out more than it should, maybe because I have a recurring nightmare that my grandparents are still alive and living in a small house in the country, and I have just... forgotten about them for the last fifty years. Never mind that they would both be over 130 years old. This is completely a me problem.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoy visiting with grandparents who are visiting from beyond the grave in books like Jones' Sauerkraut, Meriano's A Sprinkle of Spirits, or Badua's Freddie vs. The Family Curse.

This was a fun MG read with a cute premise. Fans of Coco as well as books by Pablo Cartaya and Carlos Hernandez will enjoy this title. Recommended.

Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed was such a great story about family, friendship, and discovering what’s really important. Benny is a very relatable main character who kids will really connect with!

I enjoyed reading Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed! I love a good ghost story that is not scary but fun to read. I couldn't help picturing Jaime Camil (from Jane the Virgin) as Benny's nearly departed Abuelo. With his over-the-top clothes, how he was (is?) the most talented trumpet player of all time, and how Benny is a Ramírez and has the same blood running through his veins so he must be just as talented as his Abuelo, etc.

I enjoyed how all the characters grew throughout the story. How their true talents came through and they realized they just needed to be themselves.

A great addition and a must-have for all libraries!

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