Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori Lee

 Pahua is the only Hmong girl at her school and she feels like she will never fit in.  Her best friend is a spirit cat named Miv whom only she can see. In fact, Pahua has the unusual gift to be able to see all spirits, both nature and human.  One day, she sees the spirit of a girl who died tragically on a bridge decades before. Feeling sorry for the girl, she accidently releases it, causing a host of problems including a threat to her little brother's life.  To try to fix her mistake, Pahua follows a young cocky shaman apprentice, Zhong, into the spirit world to try to save her brother's soul. She soon finds that there is much more to her ability to see spirits than she could have imagined.

Here is yet another in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.  I ended up liking this one pretty much.  I met some Hmong people when I was in California, but I know very little about their culture and mythology.  I feel like I have a better understanding after reading this book.  Gardner does a good job making Pahua and Zhong well rounded and appealing characters. The pacing of the story is very much like Rick Riordan's books, where every chapter has a challenge or a opponent for the hero's to face, and as they complete each challenge it leads them to the next. I have wondered before how heavily Riordan influences the books in his imprint.  It totally works for this book, and I am sure I will be recommending this to kids who like the other Rick Riordan Presents books, especially the Aru Shah books. (2021, 320 p.)