Freddie vs. the Family Curse
#6393.94 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2022 Reading commitment Low Tracy Badua Last reviewed 2026-11-01
Overview
Freddie vs. the Family Curse is a standalone middle-grade contemporary fantasy by Filipino American author Tracy Badua, published by Clarion Books (HarperCollins) in 2022. Twelve-year-old Freddie Ruiz believes his family is cursed with bad luck. After he finds a gold amulet, the ghost of his great-granduncle Ramon, who died in World War II, appears and warns that angry spirits have been released. With his cousin Sharkey, Freddie has thirteen days to break the curse or be trapped in the amulet. The story draws on Filipino folklore and on wartime experiences from the author's own family. No sequel has been announced.
Urban fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Freddie vs. the Family Curse Tracy Badua
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Freddie vs. the Family Curse | 2022 | 1 | core | 3.94 (505 ratings) |
A standalone middle-grade fantasy about a Filipino American boy racing to break a family curse.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Freddie vs. the Family Curse? Freddie vs. the Family Curse's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Freddie vs. the Family Curse finished? Complete (2022).
- How much reading does Freddie vs. the Family Curse take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Freddie vs. the Family Curse ranked? #639 in this site's official ranking, based on 505 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #639?
Ranked #639 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.94 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (505 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #638, Wayward Children (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 505 ratings · Ranks #639 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Sid Fleischman Humor Award, 2023: won: Freddie vs. the Family Curse
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.94 across 505 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 22 universes, among them The Ordered and Reflections of Eterna; four candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-01
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Kirkus Reviews Tier 2
- Publishers Weekly Tier 2
- KidLit411 author spotlight Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-01
Rule: Core Canon = the standalone novel Freddie vs. the Family Curse (2022).