Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol Series, by Andrew Miedoso

Andres Miedoso moves next door to Desmond Cole and shortly thereafter, and somewhat reluctantly, finds himself part of the Ghost Patrol.  The town of Kersville is filled with not-too-frightening ghosts, zombies, and other odd creatures and best friends Andres and Desmond seemingly can't go anywhere without bumping into something scary, though at the end of the books the duo always ends of befriending these initially scary creatures.

Someone recommended these to me when I was searching for easy, fun chapter books with a main character who wasn't white, and when I brought the first one home from the library my son was thrilled and asked to read it immediately.  It wasn't until the end of the first book that he casually asked if Desmond was black like him.  Race isn't discussed in the books, but based on illustrations Desmond is black and based on Andres Miedoso's name he is Latino (the author's name is also Andres Miedoso and his bio notes that he returns to Kersville as needed to visit Desmond - which my son found thrilling).  This series is EXACTLY what we wanted - exciting, plot-driven books that are always fun to read and just happen to feature children of color as the main characters.  We've read the first 5 books in the series in the last two weeks; sadly there are only 7 available currently but there are 2 more slated to be released shortly and I hope this series continues for a long time!

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)