Johnny And The Dead

Johnny and the Dead
by Terry Pratchett

Johnny Maxwell is a pretty average 12 year old boy. He spends his time playing computer games and hanging out with his mates - Big Mac, Wobbler & Yo-Less. He doesn't think anything remarkable will ever happen to him. That is, until....

The day he walks through the cemetery on the way home from school. The day he decides to stop and have a look around. The day that changes the rest of his life!

It seemed like such a good idea at the time, to run up to one of the tombs and knock on the door. He really didn't expect anyone to answer, but they did! The ghost of Alderman Thomas Bowler to be precise.

Johnny turned and ran like the clappers.

But then he stopped and thought "what if I don't go back, what if I never know the truth?" So Johnny turns back and knocks on the tomb again.

This meeting is the start of a friendship between Johnny and the dead. Only Johnny can see and hear them, so when the council decides to sell the cemetery for 5p to a company who want to knock it down, the dead decide that Johnny is just the boy to stop them.

This is the second in a trio of books about Johnny Maxwell.

1 Only You Can Save Mankind

Johnny is playing his new computer game. He is about to blast the alien fleet to smithereens when a message appears on screen that says "We surrender!".

What happens when a computer game turns into real life? Johnny is about to find out!

2 Johnny and the Dead

3 Johnny & The Bomb

Johnny and his friends travel back to World War II in a wonky shopping trolley that belongs to Mrs Tachyon, the local bag lady.

It could only happen to Johnny Maxwell!


This is a great set of books to read. Pratchett at his best. Funny, poignant and unforgettable! The one I always go back and read again is Johnny and the Dead, although I really enjoyed Only You Can Save Mankind. Johnny and the Bomb is my least favourite, but still a good book and worth a read.