Topic: Ghosts

Major Monster Mess

Welcome to Kersville, a town with a spooky history and a collection of ghosts and spirits who are major mischief-makers. Most kids spend their days without ever seeing or dealing with a ghost, but some kids get stuck with a haunt. When that happens, they call Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. There’s no job too spooky, icky, or risky for Desmond.

Andres Miedoso is not like that at all. He is Desmond’s best friend and ghost patrol partner. Desmond Cole loves the cafeteria food, but Andres always brings his lunch. Unlike most schools, the lunch at Kersville Elementary is great. Desmond always has a plate heaping with food. When a cafeteria worker smells Andres’ lunch, strange things begin happening. Andres soon wonders if a monster is after his lunch.

In the sixth installment of the Desmond Cole Series, Andres takes center stage as he tries to find out why he comes home smelling like a monster. Another conflict is introduced when a shadow keeps trying to take Andres’s lunch, which is made up of traditional Hispanic foods. Major Monster Mess has a lot of aspects that will have younger readers turning the pages. Besides featuring a ghost that lives in Andres’s basement, there is also the threat of monsters, as well as the mystery of the shadow. As usual, Desmond and Andres discover that there is little to fear when it comes to monsters. Even though they may have scary appearances, they have good intentions—to cook the students of Kersville a delicious lunch.

The Major Monster Mess has a unique and humorous plot that has mystery and a satisfying, unexpected conclusion. The story contains just enough gross factor and scary monsters to keep readers turning the pages. Even though The Monster Mess is the third book in the Desmond Cole series, readers do not have to read the previous book. The story is told in ten short chapters with easy-to-read vocabulary; perfect for emerging readers. A black-and-white illustration appears on almost every page. The often humorous illustrations use exaggerated facial expressions so readers can tell what the characters are feeling. Readers will laugh as Desmond and Andres find themselves in unexpected situations. Readers who enjoy The Scary Library Shusher should also try the Notebook of Doom series by Troy Cummings.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • On the way to school, a black shadow tries to take Andres’ lunch. “A black shadow streaked across the ground and flew right behind me! Then something grabbed my backpack and wouldn’t let go! The shadow was trying to pull me off my bike.” Andres pedals into a brier bush and the shadow “yowled and let go.”
  • While in the cafeteria, a black shadow tries to take Andres lunch. “. . . There was no way I was going to let some monster tear it away from me. So I fought back. The next thing I knew, we were in a tug-of-war. . .Before I knew it, he had pulled me into the air. We zoomed around the lunchroom while the monsters kept eating their food, splattering glop all over the place.” Desmond tries to help Andres and they both end up in a pile of goop. “It was filled with apple cores, pencil shavings, and toenail clippings.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Zax is a ghost that lives in Andres’s basement.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Scary Library Shusher

Welcome to Kersville, a town with a spooky history and a collection of ghosts and spirits who are major mischief-makers. Most kids spend their days without ever seeing or dealing with a ghost, but some kids get stuck with a haunt. When that happens, they call Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. There’s no job too spooky, icky, or risky for Desmond.

Andres Miedoso is not like that at all. He’s Desmond’s best friend and ghost patrol partner. When our teacher gives us a research project, we’re excited to research the library. There should be nothing scary about the library, right? But once we begin our research, there’s a ghostly mystery woman who is causing all sorts of mischief. Can Desmond and Andres figure out what the ghostly woman is up to?

Desmond Cole and Andres are fun characters who are complete opposites. Desmond wants to chase after the zombie, while Andes wants to run in the other direction. Although the library isn’t the most exciting scene for a story, the flying books and spooky woman will demand the reader’s attention. Desmond and Andres learn that the book-loving ghost has a unique problem; one that the two kids help solve. The story has a humorous, unexpected conclusion that will leave readers smiling.

Although The Scary Library Shusher has a common plotline, it still has enough action, humor, and a non-scary ghost to keep readers interested until the very end. The story is told in ten short chapters with easy-to-read vocabulary which is perfect for emerging readers. A black-and-white illustration appears on almost every page. The often humorous illustrations use exaggerated facial expressions so readers can tell what the characters are feeling. Readers will laugh as Desmond and Andres find themselves in unexpected situations. Night of the Zombie Zookeeper is the fifth installment in the Desmond Cole series, however, none of the books need to be read in order. Readers who enjoy The Scary Library Shusher should also try the Notebook of Doom series by Troy Cummings.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Books float off a shelf “all by themselves. Then they started flapping their covers like wings until, suddenly, the flying books swooped down toward Desmond. My best friend was under attack!”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Desmond and Andes hear a strange shhhhhh sound even though no one is there.
  • Computers start turning on all by themselves and “in the darkness, we could hear typing, and whoever was typing was doing it really fast. . . Plus, they were typing the same thing on every single computer. At the same time! It was just one very long word: Shhhhhh.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Anya’s Ghost

Anya just wants to fit in with the other kids. But, she knows that she’s not like them. She’s embarrassed of her Russian heritage, self-conscious about her body, and she only has one friend at school. After a particularly bad day at school, Anya distractedly walks home and falls into a well.

Anya didn’t expect to find a new friend at the bottom of the well, especially not one that has been dead for a century. Anya thinks the ghost is just what she needs to make her life better. But Anya’s new BFF isn’t telling the truth about how she ended up dead in a well. Can Anya trust her ghostly BFF or will Anya’s new friend turn into her worst nightmare?

Brosgal’s fantastic artwork brings Anya’s terrible teenage years to life. The illustrations capture Anya’s conflicting emotions and her angst as she navigates high school. After Anya’s family immigrated to America, Anya was bullied which caused her to turn away from her heritage. In order to fit in, Anya has learned to talk without an accent, as well as look like all of her classmates. However, Anya still struggles with making friends, she has insecurities about her body, and she is angry about life in general. Anya’s character is incredibly real—she is snarky, sarcastic; she sulks and sneers her way through life. Although Anya acts like many teens, she is not a role model. She’s rude to her family, unmotivated to do well in school, and sneaks out of class to smoke cigarettes. Despite Anya’s negative attitude, readers can still learn powerful lessons from the less-than-perfect teen.

Anya is self-centered and only thinks about herself. At first, when Anya meets her ghost, she just wants the ghost to disappear from her life. But when the ghost helps her cheat on a test, Anya thinks having a ghost around might not be so bad. Anya is so self-centered that she doesn’t even ask the ghost her name until the ghost becomes helpful. Anya also treats a Russian boy terribly. Anya doesn’t want to associate with the Russian boy at her school because he’s “fresh off the boat.”

The story also portrays teachers in a negative way. The teacher doesn’t notice when Anya sneaks out a classroom window. Another student complains about the P.E. teacher who makes them complete the physical fitness test because “he just likes watching us run around in these stupid skirts.” Then when Anya trips in class and the other girls jump over her, the teacher says, “Ladies! If we are all done losing ourselves in Anya’s derriere, we have a test to finish.”

Despite the negative aspects of the books, the story will make readers reconsider how they treat others. The story highlights the courage it takes for teens to embrace their differences instead of trying to blend in with the crowd. Anya’s Ghost uses real-life situations and humor to show how it feels to be an outsider. Anya wishes that she was skinnier, had more friends, and had a different last name. But thanks to Anya’s spooky, demanding ghost, Anya learns to appreciate her life, even if that means embracing her Russian heritage. Anya’s Ghost is comical, compassionate, creepy, and will engage even the most reluctant readers.

Sexual Content

  • Anya has a crush on Sean. She sees Sean in front of the school, kissing a girl.
  • When someone teases Anya, her friend tells the girl, “Hey, Katy, I heard about your nice moves in the boys’ bathroom today.”
  • Anya tells her friend that Sean talked to her. Anya’s friend replies, “Are you sure he wasn’t talking to your boobs?”
  • Anya fantasizes about kissing Sean. In the fantasy, the two dance, and then Sean says, “Oh Anya, let’s have an intense spiritual relationship for no believable reason.” To which Anya replies, “Oh, Sean, Take me away!”
  • To go to a party, Anya dresses in a short skirt and a low-cut shirt. When she looks at herself, she says, “this feels kind of slutty.” When Anya gets to the party, a boy tells her, “Your boobs look spectacular in that shirt.”
  • At a party, Anya finds Sean’s girlfriend outside a door. Anya can hear a girl giggling inside the room. Sean comes out of the room and briefly flirts with Anya. Then Sean tells his girlfriend, “Maybe a bit more of a signal next time, Liz?” Sean’s girlfriend reveals that the girl in the room is another boy’s girlfriend.
  • Anya decides she doesn’t want anything to do with Sean because “he’s upstairs making out with Amber.”

Violence

  • The ghost, Emily, tells Anya that she fell into a well and died, but “it didn’t hurt. But I couldn’t move or talk. I got very thirsty and then I died.
  • The ghost tells a story about how her parents were “very religious” and would offer to let passing people sleep in the barn. One man who “seemed like a good Christian” killed her parents. When Emily “woke up from a dream and came downstairs, he was standing over my parents’ bodies, ready to go upstairs for me.” Emily ran and fell down a well, where she died.
  • When Emily was alive, she had a crush on a man. When she sees the man with another woman, Emily killed them both. Emily says, “He said I was ugly! He broke my heart!”
  • The ghost tries to hurt Emily’s mother by turning on the stove burner and poisoning the food.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Anya and her friend skip class so they can smoke cigarettes.
  • During a conversation, Sean says that his friend gets “kind of freaky when he’s drunk.”
  • Anya goes to a party, where it’s implied that teens are drinking.

Language

  • Profanity is used frequently. Profanity includes: ass, badass, crap, goddamn, and whore.
  • Anya’s friend tells her, “I heard about you down that freakin’ well for two days! That’s so badass.”
  • God, my God, and Oh my God are used as an exclamation frequently. When the ghost sneaks up on Anya, Anya says, “Jesus, Emily! You scared me to death!”
  • A girl tells Anya’s friend, “Screw you.”
  • When a girl teases Anya, her friend tells her, “forget about that whore, Anya.”
  • A girl says her brother said Sean was a dirtbag. The same girl says that Sean is a manwhore.
  • Anya says that Emily is “just a pissy cloud.”

Supernatural

  • Anya falls into a well and meets a ghost, who “can’t go very far from my bones.”

Spiritual Content

  • Anya falls into a well. When she finds food in her backpack, she says “Oh, Thank God.” Later, when someone finds her in the well, she again says, “Oh, Thank God.”
  • There is a picture of Jesus on the wall in Anya’s house. When Anya cusses, her mom tells Anya not to “swear in front of Jesus.”
  • Anya refuses to go to church with her family. When her mom tells Anya people are worried about her, Anya asks, “Because I’m sick or because I’m going to hell?” Later Anya tells the ghost that she doesn’t want to go to church because “orthodox church is weird.”

Paper Valentine

In the last six months, Hannah’s life has been turned upside down because Hannah’s best friend Lillian died and is now haunting her. Not only is Hannah struggling to understand the self-destructive behavior that led to Lillian’s death, but she is also grappling with changes in her elite friend group. When Hannah runs into bad boy Finny, she can’t decide if she should stay away from the boy with a bad reputation or if she should explore her growing attraction to him.

Then, when someone begins murdering young girls and leaving behind paper valentines, Lilian’s ghost encourages Hannah to look into the crimes. As Hannah discovers gruesome details about the murders, the ghosts of the dead girls begin appearing. But why do they appear when Finny is near? And by investigating, is Hannah making herself a target for the murderer?

Over the course of the book, Hannah struggles with depression and dealing with the death of Lillian. To make matters worse, Lillian has changed in death. Lillian criticizes Hannah for spending time with her friends, even though they were Lillian’s friends when she was alive. Lillian is mean to Hannah and says things like, “Hannah doesn’t like to live in real life. Hannah just wants to pretend that we all live in happy fairy-land, where everyone is super-best friends and no one is a heinous bitch and nothing bad is ever going to happen.” Although much of Hannah’s behavior seems week, she is like many teenagers who struggle with wanting to fit in.

Paper Valentine does an excellent job showing the complexities of people. Although most people think Finny is just a delinquent, he also has a streak of kindness. Hannah is able to look past Finny’s ‘bad boy’ image and see his good side. In addition, Hannah realizes that she and Lillian, “were always trying so hard to be perfect . . . when the funny thing was, we didn’t have to.”

Paper Valentine bounces from topic to topic, including the desire to be perfect, depression, eating disorders, child abuse, and ghosts. None of the topics are dealt with in detail and will leave the readers with unanswered questions. The conclusion was predictable, typical, and lacks insight into the mind of the killer. Those looking for an excellent murder mystery may want to bypass Paper Valentine. Despite its flaws, Paper Valentine is an enjoyable, unique story that junior high readers will enjoy. Paper Valentine is a fast-paced story that has a bit of a scare factor due to the ghosts. Readers will enjoy looking for clues to discover the murderer, and Hannah and Finny have some sweet moments.

Sexual Content

  • While watching the news, someone makes a comment about the news correspondents. “I bet they make out like hyenas as soon as Jim Dean starts giving the weather report.”
  • A boy that Hannah knows “used to go out with Lillian in junior high and now sometimes made out with Angelie.”
  • A boy at school would “grab girls around the waist when they walked by his table in the cafeteria last year and say things like, ’Want to sit on my lap and talk about the next thing that pops up.’”
  • When Hannah picks out some lipstick, she’s afraid her friend will think the “colors are perfect for a disco-clown hooker.”
  • When Hannah thinks of pressing her hips against Finny, “the thought of this is electric, beating in my chest like a birthday wish, dark and warm and secret.”
  • Finny and Hannah kiss several times. The first time, Finny “bends his head and kisses me, just once, then lets me go. When Connor would kiss Angelie in the halls last spring, he did it like he was trying to suck the chocolate off the outside of a Klondike bar. It could last hours. This is more like seeing a star fall—thrilling and soundless and then over.”
  • When Finny kisses Hannah a second time, “his tongue brushes the curve of my bottom lip, grazing the hollow underneath, and something leaps and fidgets in my chest. . . I want him to never stop.”
  • When Hannah goes to Dairy Queen, a girl she knows was “leaning against the side of the little brick building, frantically kissing Austin Dean.”
  • A boy asks, “Hey, do you think if I bleached my hair and started vandalizing street signs or something, Carmen would let me near those exquisite titties?”
  • While in a public place, Hannah kisses Finny so that her friends will see. “He doesn’t react right away, but then his hands move to my hips.”

Violence

  • When someone was bothering Hannah, Finny came to her aid. “Finny had Connor by the collar of his shirt and was holding him so their foreheads were almost touching, but he didn’t say anything. He just leaned over me while Connor yanked on Finny’s wrist, trying to get loose. . . With his hand on the back of Connor’s neck, Finny held Connor away from me. . .”
  • Hannah talks about the murder of Monica Harris. “One of the city garbage collectors found her out in the parking lot behind the Bowl-A-Rama in her pink polyester jacket, beaten dead with a piece of two-by-four and her own ice skates.”
  • Hannah looks at the crime scene photos and sees, “Her face is shockingly white—dead white—and there are dark finger-shaped bruises all over one shoulder. In the blue evening light, the bruises look black. Almost as black as the blood that’s splashed in the weedy grass around her.” The photo is described over five paragraphs.
  • When Finny was younger, a dog bit off his finger. He also has cigarette burns on his back. The abuse is not described.
  • While in elementary school, Hannah was mean to Finny, and he washed her face with snow. “The snow was weeks old, crusty with ice, and when he scrubbed my face with it, the crystals were so sharp they made me bleed.”
  • A boy is in foster care because “his dad was using him for a punching bag.”
  • Hannah and a group of people find a dead body. “I’m looking into the face of a girl, and there’s blood in her hair and splashed down the side of her neck. There’s a smell. . . Her face is pale blue in the light. . .” The scene is described over three paragraphs.
  • The murderer tries to kill Hannah. “He turns and grabs me by the shoulders, slamming me hard against the wall of the bridge. . . When I try to squirm away, prying at his fingers with my free hand, he gives me a shake that nearly pops my shoulder out of its socket. . . That’s when he slaps me. . .” The murderer hits Hannah’s head with something heavy. She is injured but survives. The scene takes place over a chapter.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A shop owner “runs off prints of scowling tattooed drug dealers and drunk, disorderly frat boys standing against a dirty wall outside one of the college bars.”
  • The Qwick-mart has “smashed beer bottles” on the ground outside.
  • Hannah remembers when Lillian was younger and “took that bottle of Sour Apple Pucker from her mom’s liquor cabinet, and we drank it in the back of her garage.”
  • Lillian thinks her mother, “spent the last three years drinking a perfectly decent chardonnay on the couch and waiting for me to stop being so dramatic.”

Language

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, asshole, bastard, bitch, crappiest, damn, fuck, goddamn, pussies, hell, shit, shitty.
  • Thank god, Jesus, and God are used as exclamations. For example, Hannah’s friends tell her, “God, you’re such a weenie sometimes.”
  • Finny tells someone, “Don’t be a douche.”
  • Ghost Lillian calls a boy a pervert.
  • When a girl’s thong is showing, someone says, “Damn! That is just too much ass for those jeans!”
  • Finny took a stolen bracelet away from a boy and gave it back to Hannah. When she asks if the boy was mad, Finny replies, “Do I give a shit? He can fucking deal with it! I told him that maybe he’s free to act like a total dick any other time, but not to girls and little kids. Not when he’s with me.”

Supernatural

  • Hannah’s friend is a ghost. Hannah narrates, “Ghosts are the kind of thing you go your whole life with everyone telling you they aren’t real. I believe in them anyways, because the world is full of things that no one actually understands. Mostly though, I believe in them because my best friend died six months ago and now she’s with me all the time, materializing silently out of the shadows, creeping closer, reaching out.”
  • Several times, Hannah uses an Ouija board to talk to the spirits of the murdered girls.

Spiritual Content

  • The murderer tells Hannah, “As far as those little bitches knew, I was God.”

 

 

 

Dragon Pearl

Thirteen-year-old Min lives an ordinary life. No one knows that her family comes from a long line of fox spirits. Her family hides their powers, and Min’s mother doesn’t allow any of them to use fox-magic. Instead of shape-shifting and using Charm, Min always appears as a human.

Min dreams of leaving her dust-ridden planet and joining her brother Jun in the Space Forces. When Min gets older, they hope to see more of the Thousand Worlds together. Then an investigator appears and informs the family that Jun has deserted. The investigator thinks Jun is searching for the mythical Dragon Pearl that is rumored to have tremendous power.

After reading a strange message from Jun, Min knows that something is wrong. Min runs away to search for her brother. During her journey, she will meet gamblers, pirates, and ghosts. She will have to use deception, sabotage, and magic. Min will need all of her courage to complete her journey. Will she be able to find the answers she needs to find her brother?

Sci-fi enthusiasts will enter an imaginative world that includes Korean mythology. The Korean mythology is seamlessly integrated into Min’s story and helps create an interesting world. The story is a perfect blend of mystery, action, and space travel. Although most of the story is fast-paced, parts of the story are difficult to read because of long descriptions.

Dragon Pearl is told from Min’s point of view, which allows the reader to understand her thought process as she searches for her brother. Middle school readers will enjoy reading about Min because of her daring actions and can-do attitude.

Although Min has spent her life hiding her magical abilities, once she leaves her house, she consistently relies on Charm. Readers may question how she can be so skilled using her Charm when she has had no practice. Another bothersome inconsistency is that Min notices when other supernaturals use their powers, but no one notices when Min uses her Charm. Even though Min uses her Charm to deceive others, she is still a likable character. At the end of the book, Min realizes that she should rely less on magic, but it would have been nice to see Min use her brain to solve some problems throughout the story, instead of always using Charm.

The ending is a little predictable, but there are enough surprises to satisfy readers. Middle school readers who are interested in mythology may want to begin with the Percy Jackson Series or Aru Shah and the End of Time, which have better character development as well as humor. Overall, Dragon Pearl creates an interesting world filled with magic. The danger, magic, and mystery will draw readers into the story and keep them engaged. However, some readers may struggle with the long descriptions and difficult vocabulary.

Sexual Content

  • Some people wear “a small symbol next to the name that let me know they should be addressed neutrally, as neither female or male.” One of the characters, a goblin, is gender neutral and referred to as they.

Violence

  • When an investigator finds out that Min is a fox, he “snatched me up by the throat. I scrabbled for air, my fingernails lengthening into claws, and tore desperately at his fingers.” Min turns into a block of metal and fell on the man’s foot. When he lets her go, “I snatched a saucepan and brought it crashing down against his head. He fell without a sound.”
  • Mercenaries attack the ship that Min is on. Min “cried as a burst of violet fire hit us in the side.” The scene takes place over nine pages. Someone pulls Min “behind the copilot’s seat. Great timing: A bolt sizzled over me, where my head had been just a second earlier. . . Two more bolts flew over my head. I peeked around the side of the seat and fired once at the first shadowy figure I saw. I heard a yelp.” Min is hit and “slid out of consciousness.” Later, Min discovers that one cadet died.
  • A person accidently crashed into Min, who is appearing as a boy. Min “emitted a strange yell when the person’s knee accidently connected with my crotch. I was going to have to be more careful about guarding that part of my body!”
  • A space ship is attacked, and the Goblin is injured. “Sunjin jumped back from their workstation, clutching their side. An enormous burning line of light had seared the goblin from the neck all the way to their waist, as though someone had slashed them with a whip of fire. . .”
  • Min discovers that the colonist, “stopped making offerings to the pox spirits, and the spirits took their vengeance by wiping out the colony.”
  • Min helps two mercenaries escape. They get on a ship and the pilot, “blew open the hatch with a missile at short range. . . Acceleration slammed us sideways as our ship veered hard to starboard, then rolled.”
  • Min turns into a bird, and someone shoots at her. “Fire pierced my right wing. . . I plummeted, struggling. . . The pain made me light headed.”
  • A man grabs Min. “I stifled a gasp as his fingers dug into my flesh and he yanked me toward him, wrenching my injured shoulder.” The ghost helps Min escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Min knocks the investigator unconscious, her family discusses using a “subtle poison” to kill him.
  • Min questions a guard, who tells her that he got his information from a “drunk spacer who was spilling secrets last night.”
  • Min meets a guard who had, “the flushed skin of someone who had been drinking too much cheap wine, and he reeked of the stuff.”
  • For a few hours, Min works in a gambling hall where she serves wine and uses “Charm to encourage customers to relax.” While working, she gives wine to customers.
  • When Min is injured, she is given a dose of painkiller.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The main character is a fox spirit, who lives as a human. A fox spirit can, “shape-shift into whatever she wants: human, animal, even a dining room table.” Fox spirits can choose to be female or male. Fox spirits can also use Charm “to manipulate human emotions and make people see things that aren’t there.”
  • Besides fox spirits, there are other supernatural creatures, “such as dragons, who can control weather, and goblins, who can conjure things out of thin air.”
  • Shamans can communicate with ancestors and spirits.
  • Throughout the story, Min uses Charm to disguise herself. The first time, she made, “myself plainer, drabber, harder to see.” She also uses Charm to turn into an inanimate object several times. The majority of the story, she disguises herself as a cadet who had been killed. The cadet is a ghost and gave Min permission to pretend to be him.
  • The story revolves around the Fourth Colony, “whose entire population had perished when they’d angered disease spirits a few centuries ago.” The ghosts of the colonists haunt the planet.
  • A ghost is one of the supporting characters. “Ghosts weren’t necessarily unfriendly, but many of them became vengeful over time, especially if the unfinished business that bound them to the world of the living went unresolved.” Later in the story, the reader learns that “most ghosts were bound near the site of whatever had felled them.”
  • Ghosts can be dangerous because, “wrongful death warped people’s souls and made them vengeful toward the living.”
  • Several times, the goblin uses his magical sport to create food. The first time the goblin uses the magic, “Sunjin waved the sport, and a box of chocolate-dipped cookies magically appeared.”
  • People are looking for the Dragon Pearl, which could, “transform an entire barren world, give it forests and seas and make it suitable for habitation, it could just as easily destroy a world, turn it into a lifeless desert.”
  • Both people and space ships have an energy flow, which affects luck. “Just like you could have flows of good or back luck in a room, depending on how furniture and ornaments were arranged, there could be flows of good or bad luck across star systems and beyond.”
  • Min meets her brother’s ghost. “Through the disheveled locks I recognized the face—what remained of it, anyway. Half of it flickered with ghostly flames, as though he were on fire. Between that, and the hair, I could barely see his surviving eye.”
  • A shaman was “going to rid the Fourth Colony of its ghosts by singing us into the underworld.” The ghosts stop her.
  • Min uses the Dragon Pearl to give the ghosts a proper burial. “The ghosts shimmered, and I could sense their joy.”

Spiritual Content

  • A pilot whispers a “spacer’s prayer that heaven would see us safely through the gate.”
  • When Min’s escape pod crashes, she “prayed to every ancestor I knew to watch over us.”
  • Min sees that the dead colonist “didn’t have gruesome lesions of smallpox, the disease that gods had once wielded to teach humankind respect. . .”

Amber House

Sarah had never seen Amber House, the family estate until her family traveled to Maryland in order to sell it. The house has been in the family for three hundred years, but Sarah doesn’t care – that is, until she starts seeing visions of its past. It turns out the women of Amber House have the gift of seeing the home’s echoes, and not all of them are moments for which the family would like to be remembered.

Despite her fear, the lure of hidden diamonds keeps Sarah at Amber House, digging to uncover its secrets. As her family gets closer to selling the estate, Sarah becomes more attached, desperate to save her family’s heritage. But when her little brother gets trapped in the in-between world of spirits and memories, Sarah realizes her family heritage is darker than she had ever imagined.

Filled with beautiful imagery, Amber House is a delight from beginning to end. The constant unraveling of numerous mysteries is complemented by the troubles of a normal teenage girl—parental discord, family drama, and a sprinkle of romance that complements the story while not becoming overbearing. In a surprising feat, the main and supporting cast of characters are all well-developed, creating a story full of people to root and long for.

While this story has a fair amount of violence, it is not graphically described. For a young adult novel, the sexual content and language are also refreshingly mild. The book is a must-read because of the well-developed cast, beautiful imagery, and a delectably unique storyline. Also, the main character, Sarah, is extremely likable. Overall, Amber House is a joy to read and it leaves readers desperately hoping the sequel can live up to its predecessor’s impressive feat.

Sexual Content

  • Sarah’s dad cheated on her mother before the start of the book. “He’d gotten a little too close to Sammy’s overly friendly pediatrician back in Seattle.”
  • It’s mentioned in passing that the founder of John Hopkins Hospital “fell in love with his first cousin, Elizabeth” and that neither one “of this tragic pair ever got married.”
  • Sarah idly flips through a magazine and sees a Cosmo article titled, “Ten Spicy Ways to Do It in the Summer!”
  • At a party, Sarah follows Kathryn “up the carpeted steps, her nearly naked bottom exactly two steps up and directly in front of my face. No cellulite, I noted.”
  • Sarah and Richard kiss several times. “He leaned over, put his finger under my chin. He hesitated a moment, then gave me the softest kiss. I liked it. I liked it a lot.”
  • Richard’s friends go swimming in their underwear. Sarah sits on the side and watches. “Chad stopped undressing when he got down to his boxers. He took a running jump and cannonballed into the pool. Kathryn—now in nothing but a matching bra and panty set—followed.”
  • Sarah’s mom thinks the senator wants something from her. “He may be looking for a – companion. . . Or maybe he’s more ambitious. He’s single, I’m newly wealthy, and he doesn’t seem to like it much when your father is around.”
  • Sarah sees a man and woman kissing in a vision, but the woman seems to see Sarah too. “‘You’re watching, aren’t you?’ she said. ‘What, honey?’ the man said, not stopping, slipping the shoulder of Fiona’s dress down to reveal bare skin. ‘It’s all right,’ she said to the door—to me. ‘Sometimes I watch too.’”
  • Sarah sends her best friend an email. “You will not believe where I am. . .in the bedroom of the Abercrombie model…and no, we’re not doing anything except picking up some party clothes, you filthy-minded hussy.”
  • Sarah and Richard kiss in the garden. “He kissed me again, harder, more urgently, his hands folding my face, and I found myself kissing him hungrily, my fingers in his hair.”

Violence

  • Jackson tells the story of a “car accident when I was three. Burned me pretty bad all over my left side. . . got a head injury and a few broken ribs, but I survived. My parents didn’t.”
  • Sarah sees a young girl trying to drown a baby in a vision. “Oh, God. Two little fists flailing; the dark curls on the top of a small head submerged under roiling water. A black woman ran up, shoved the girl back, and snatched the baby from the tub.” The girl tells the woman, “You can’t save it, you know. The gypsy told Papa it has to die.”
  • Later Sarah sees the same black woman being whipped. “He stopped in front of a black woman, stripped naked to the waist, bound by her wrists to a low branch of the tree. ‘Where’s the child, you damned witch?’ She did not answer. . . and bleeding welts crisscrossed the white stripes of old scars on both sides of her spine. Dark drops sprayed from the blow, and I could see that the crop’s leather was stained wet brown.”
  • A woman and her husband get in a fight. The woman “screamed, turning and swinging the thing in her hand down in an arc. He saw her at the last second and parried the thing with his forearm. Then he swore, reaching for the gem-set handle suddenly protruding from his shoulder…’Lock her in the nursery,’ he said. ‘I never want to see her again.’”
  • Richard punches Jackson when he catches him dancing with Sarah. “I could smell the sour notes of champagne, and I could hear it in his voice…Richard turned and struck him in the face. ‘Shut up!’ Blood beaded on Jackson’s lip, purple-red in the half light.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Sarah overhears someone talking about her deceased grandmother. “I heard her liver failed, but with all poor Ida suffered, it was no wonder she drank.”
  • Sarah’s mother finds “a stash of medical supplies in a narrow cupboard that contained mostly liquor.” She then “came out with a bottle of vodka and poured herself an inch over ice.”
  • Sarah almost falls down after riding a horse for an hour. Richard says, “Woah, Parsons, you look like you’ve been hitting the sauce.”
  • Richard drinks at Sarah’s party. “I noticed a nearly empty champagne flute at his elbow and wondered if it was his. The dealer didn’t seem to question it.”

Language

  • God, hell, and Jesus are used as exclamations.
  • When Sarah bruises her forehead, her mother says, “Oh my God, what the Hell did you do to your face?”
  • Sarah’s mother says, “Jesus, I can’t take this today.”
  • Sarah says that “spending an evening with a hundred strangers is her idea of hell.”
  • A kid says Amber House has “got a damn cemetery right on the property.”
  • When Richard loses a race, Sarah hears him “choking out a few choice four-letter words.”
  • A friend says Sarah made “an ass out of Richard in front of all his friends. . . It was about time someone took him down a peg.”
  • Sarah’s mom says, “You think I’m some kind of conniving bitch because I want to use the senator’s connections?”

Supernatural

  • Sarah sees visions of Amber House’s pasts when she touches certain objects. Some are harmless and fun, but some are frightening. “A woman stood in the shaft of moonlight. . . She might have been carved of stone. A spider ran down a lock of her hair, and air escaped me in the smallest gasp. . . The voice rose almost to a scream. ‘You think you are safe? You think I can’t hurt you? I can. I can get you. I can find you in your dreams.’”
  • Sarah’s visions of Amber House are passed down among the woman of the family. Jackson says, “Ida saw things too. She called them echoes. When she touched certain things, little bits of the past came to life for her. She said they were the house’s memory.”
  • An old woman named Nanga can see visions of the future, allowing her and Sarah to interact on several occasions. “She can see the future. And because I can see the past, we could talk to each other.”
  • A woman in Sarah’s vision tries to stop her husband from burying their dead son. “’He’s not dead,’ she said, horror in her voice. ‘He’s sleeping. I’ve seen him in my dreams. His spirit comes to me. I won’t let you put him in the ground.”
  • Sarah gets her fortune told at her birthday party. She is told, “I have never seen a board that spoke so powerfully of change as this one.”
  • When Sammy goes into a coma, Sarah sees her brother’s face in a mirror. Jackson says, “There’s an old superstition that spirits can be trapped in mirrors.”

Spiritual Content

  • At her grandmother’s funeral, the housekeeper covers all mirrors with black cloths. The housekeeper says it is “just a southern superstition. . . to help the departed’s soul cross over and not get trapped in the looking-glass world. . . People used to believe you could see through to the other side in a mirror. To the place where souls go after death before they move on to their final destination.”
  • Sarah and her mother go to church to socialize. “It had been years since I’d been inside a church. My mother liked religion about as much as she liked anything else supernatural. But she led the way up the steps the next morning.”
  • “I fell asleep still thinking about people watching me, thinking that the eyes in Amber House were kind of like the eyes of God, knowing every failing. Except God could forgive.”

by Morgan Lynn

City of Ghosts

A screech of wheels. The grip of freezing water. Death. When Cassidy almost drowns, everything changed. She can now enter the world of the dead. To make things stranger, her best friend, Jacob, is a ghost.

Cassidy didn’t think life could get more complicated. Then her parents agree to film a TV show about the world’s most haunted places and the family heads to Edinburgh, Scotland. Restless ghosts haunt the graveyards, castles, and even the pubs. When Cassidy meets another girl who can see the dead, Cassidy realizes she has a lot to learn. Cassidy soon discovers that in a city of ghosts, danger hides in unexpected places.

Victoria Schwab writes a creepy ghost story that is just the right balance of cuteness, chills, and charm. Scotland’s people and lore come to life as Cassidy visits the historical landmarks including Edinburgh Castle and Mary King’s Close. As Cassidy encounters different ghost stories, Scotland’s history unfolds.

Cassidy’s best friend, Jacob, is a fun addition to the cast of characters. Even though Cassidy has told her parents about Jacob, and Cassidy’s parents research haunted places, they do not believe in ghosts. Cassidy’s caring, quirky parents bring ironic humor to the story that middle school readers will understand.

City of Ghosts is the perfect ghost story for younger readers. The easy-to-read text contains short sentences and is a good blend of action, description, and dialogue. The Harry Potter references will delight readers. Although the plot contains only a few surprises, the story is still solid and engaging. Cassidy’s inquisitive mind and courage will draw the reader into the story. Her relationship with Jacob and her parents are an added bonus. City of Ghosts takes the reader on a spooky adventure that will be hard to forget.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The narrator almost dies while riding her bike. She is on a bridge when “the truck whipped around the curve and hurtled toward me. I swerved out of the way, and so did the truck, tires screeching as my bike slammed into the railing hard enough to make sparks fly.” She goes into the river, where a boy ghost saves her.
  • A long time ago, a boy died in a school fire. The fire began during a school play. In a panic, the boy “shuffles on his hands and knees until he reaches the trap door (of the stage). . .He pulls the door up and climbs down into the dark just before a piece of burning set collapse on top of the stage, pining the trapdoor shut.”
  • When Cass enters the veil, she sees “a man being hauled toward a platform, where a noose hangs waiting.”
  • Cass’s dad explains how some people would rob graves and take the bodies to medical theaters so medical students could practice on them. Two men, “Decided that instead of digging up corpses, they would simply create their own. . . They murdered sixteen people before they were caught and tried . . .Burke was hanged, and then dissected in an anatomy theater, just as his victims had been.”
  • While in the veil, The Raven, a ghost who steals children, puts Cass under a spell. Then, “her fingers harden like claws. . . she thrust her hand straight into my chest. Cold rushes through me, a bone-chilling cold, worse than the bottom of the river. It feels like icy fingers wrapped around my heart.” She tears Cass’s life’s ribbon out of her chest. In order to come back alive, The Raven must dig up her corpse and place the life’s ribbon in her chest. Cass attempts to get her life’s ribbon back and the struggle is told over several chapters. Cass crawls into a grave, and when The Raven finds her, “The Raven grabs me and throws me out of the grave. . . I land hard on the ground. . . and hit a gravestone, knocking all the air out of my lungs.”
  • While in the veil, Cass sees a ghost who is on a platform, and “a course rope is cinched around his neck.” The execution doesn’t come.
  • Ghosts chase after Cass and Jacob. The ghost children “close in, opening their mouths, and instead of different voices coming out, there’s only one. The Raven’s. Her eerie hypnotic song pours from their lips.” The chase takes place over several chapters.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • One of the characters has two pints of beer—one for himself and one for his friend’s ghost.

Language

  • “Oh god” is used as an exclamation. When Cassidy’s parents want to talk to her, she thinks, “Oh god. I’m going to be a big sister.”

Supernatural

  • Jacob, a ghost who is attached to a living girl, is one of the main characters in the story.
  • Cass can see ghosts and cross the veil between the living and the dead. The narrator explains, “It takes a lot of spirit power for a ghost to reach across the Veil—the curtain between their world and ours. And the ghosts that have that kind of strength, they tend to be really old and not very nice. . . the dead grow strong on darker things. On pain and anger and regret.”
  • Lara casts a spell on a ghost and then reaches in and pulls the ribbon out “. . . The dark thread comes free in her hand, hanging limply from her fingers for a moment before crumbling away to ash. An instant later, the main crumbles, too, just . . . falls apart.” Later Lara explains that she sent him, “To the great unknown? To the silent side? To peace and quiet? Call it what you like. I sent him to the place beyond. Where he’s supposed to be.”
  • The Raven puts two teen boys under a spell. The boys “stand chest-deep in the grave. . . Their expressions are glassy, their breaths fogging as they shovel mound after mound of dirt out of the pit. . . “The boys dig up the Raven’s corpse.

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Hide-and-Seek Ghost

Kaz is an ordinary ghost who hasn’t figured out how to glow. When the house that Kaz and his family live in is torn down, the wind scatters the ghosts and carries Kaz to a library. While at the library, Kaz meets Claire—a human who can see him. Together the two look for Kaz’s family and solve ghostly mysteries in the process.

One of Claire’s classmates, Eli, is known for his pranks. So when he asks Claire to help him rid his family home of a ghost, Claire isn’t sure if Eli really needs help or if he is just trying to pull another prank. Can Kaz and Claire discover if Eli’s home is really haunted?

The Hide-and-Seek Ghost brings Claire’s world and the ghost world to life with black-and-white illustrations that will help readers visualize the characters and actions. The plot focuses on an argument between Kaz’s parents and another ghost as well as the mystery of Eli’s haunted house. The multiple plots make the story choppy and may cause some confusion. Readers will enjoy following the clues to the mystery and looking at the many illustrations that show the characters’ emotions.

The ghosts in the story are not scary; however, there are several scenes where ghosts are separated from family when they leave a building and the wind blows them away. The idea of being accidentally separated from family and not being able to return may frighten some readers. A glossary of ghostly terms helps readers understand those that are used in the story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Many of the characters are ghosts who can choose to be seen and heard by “solids” and who can glow, shrink, expand, and walk through walls.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Haunted

Phoebe isn’t sure what is going on. She keeps jumping; one minute her life is perfectly normal, and the next she is in a different location with different people. Phoebe jumps from time and place, which frightens and confuses her (and the reader). Phoebe wonders if she has a mental disorder or if she is truly jumping back in time. It is not until later that Phoebe realizes that she is in fact dead.

To add to the confusion of the story, Phoebe is trying to discover the secrets behind her parents’ move to the family mansion in England. As Phoebe learns about her ancestor, Madame Arnaud, she discovers that her sister is in grave danger. Madame Arnaud has a devious plan. With the help of Miles and Eleanor, Phoebe tries to find a way to defeat Madame Arnaud and save children from dying.

Miles’s character adds a little bit of romance and mystery, which teens will enjoy. Even though Phoebe and Miles like each other romantically, the story focuses on how they defeat Madame Arnaud.

Although Haunted has an interesting and frightening backstory with Madame Arnaud, the beginning of the story is confusing and difficult to follow. Because of Phoebe’s confusion, she comes across as an unreliable narrator, which makes it harder to sympathize with her. Haunted might be a difficult book for struggling readers.

Sexual Content

  • Phoebe meets Miles and they kiss. “His tongue was warm, but his lips were cold from the pool, a combination that made me crazy with arousal. My nipples hardened against his bare chest, with my swimsuit a scant barrier between us.”
  • Phoebe fantasizes about Miles. “Soon I’d be kissing him for all I was worth, burrowing my fingers into that beautiful, black hair. I’d take my time and lick a slow trail down his neck into the follow near his clavicle.”

Violence

  • While in a trance, Madame Arnaud enters Phoebe’s body and writes about a maid trying to kill her. The murder is not described.
  • Madame Arnaud wanted to live forever and she thought drinking a child’s blood would allow her to live longer. “If she drank the blood of a baby, she got to drink its future, all the decades it was expected to live.”
  • In order to steal the life of children, Madame Arnaud would, “gently lift the child’s arm, or whatever limb had been cut, to her lips and suck away the blood. . . And not just for a few seconds, once the child got used to it. No, she’d take a full suckle like a baby at its mother’s breast. She drank her fill.”
  • Phoebe thinks about kidnapping a child for Madame Arnaud. Phoebe thinks if she does this, Madame Arnaud will leave her sister alone.
  • Phoebe leads Madame Arnaud to a lake where she has set a trap for her. Phoebe watches Madame Arnaud drown.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Madame Arnaud tells Phoebe that when she lived in France, “we drank champagne like it was water.”

Language

  • When Phoebe’s mother sees a puncture wound on Tabby, she says, “My god! How’d you do that? A nail on this goddamn crib?”
  • Phoebe’s teacher thinks she is depressed and gives her the number of a suicide hotline. She thinks, “He actually thought I could do it. He was giving me a goddamn suicide hotline number.”
  • Phoebe cusses occasionally throughout the book. She says crap, goddammit, and damn.
  • A boy tells Phoebe, “I try my best not to be an asshole.”

Supernatural

  • Phoebe sees a vision of a woman whose “Decayed skin revealed the muscles underneath. Her right index finger had decomposed so much that just one long bone stuck out at the end.”
  • Phoebe mysteriously jumps back in time and she’s not sure if she time-traveled or if it was just a weird memory.
  • Phoebe talks about an Ouija board and automatic writing. “Basically, you sit with pen and paper and invoke a spirit . . . you invite them to use your body, and while you’re in a trance, they write their message as fast as they can.” Later in the story, Madame Arnaud enters Phoebe’s body and writes her story.
  • The mansion where Phoebe’s family lives is full of ghosts, including the ghost of the babies who Madame Arnaud killed.
  • A character tells Phoebe about a woman named Elizabeth Bathory who “Bathed in the blood of virgin peasants to keep her skin fresh and youthful. She also, if the victim was beautiful, drank the blood.”
  • In the end, the ghosts are “released” and go on to the afterlife.

Spiritual Content

The story contains a pagan yew tree that has a Rune on it. The tree aids in killing Madame Arnaud. Phoebe believes that “the house is malevolent. But something brought us together, something kept sending you to your car and me to the pool. It wanted us to figure things out and fix things.”

The Lost Gate

Danny seems like an ordinary boy. He’s smart, he enjoys long-distance running, and he teases his younger cousins. But among the North family, where children are expected to create fairies or speak with animals, “ordinary” is an embarrassing curse. Danny is a pariah among his own family until he realizes that he has one of the most powerful gifts that exist. The only problem is, people with this gift are so powerful that the law calls for their death.

Danny flees his home and goes to live with the non-magical druthers, who he has watched from a distance his entire life. As he learns to live with these people, he must explore his powers and test the boundaries of what he can do. According to legend, there is another world that used to be connected with Earth. Danny might be the only person alive who can reestablish this lost connection, but unknown consequences may be triggered by such an act.

The Lost Gate is not meant for the same age group as Card’s well-known Ender’s Game. Due to a large amount of adult language and explicit sexual content, this book borders on the edge between the Young Adult and Adult genres. Due to this high level of adult content, this book may be unsuitable for most teens.

Sexual Content

  • Danny gets his cousins in trouble accidentally. The cousins were particularly annoyed because Danny’s inquiry had led to Auntie Tweng finding their files of pornography.”
  • Danny tries to teach his cousins, but they insist on messing around. “The miniature female bodies they were forming out of fallen twigs, leaves, and nutshells were shaping up with huge breasts and exaggerated hips. Forest fairies, a drowther would have called them. Or sluts . . . all two of the forest fairies turned to face him. Two of them flaunted their chests; the other turned around, thrust her buttocks toward him, and waggled it back and forth.”
  • A man sees a naked person. ” ‘Is that a dingle or a dong?’ whispered Father. ‘Is he a man yet or not?’ “
  • When Danny is accused of shoplifting, a detective asks him to turn out his pockets and lift up his shirt. Danny asks, “You like to look at the naked bodies of little boys?”
  • A guy asks Danny if he is going to, “Look for some nice man who’ll give you a good place to live as long as you let him do a few little—?”
  • Bexio marries King Prayard. “Prayard gave every outward respect to his wife, even to the sharing of her bed at least once in every month; her lack of children was blamed entirely on Bexoi’s barrenness and not on lack of effort by Prayard.”
  • When asked to turn out his pockets by a pair of security guards, Danny takes his clothes off and gives them to the security guard. “I’m letting you examine my clothes for yourself . . . so I don’t have you putting your hands all over me,” Danny said. Then he, “turned his back to them, bent over, pulled down his tighty-whiteys, and spread his butt cheeks.”
  • Danny meets, “a woman—no, a girl of about sixteen—wearing a man’s oversized white button-up shirt . . . and quite possibly nothing else, which Danny found distracting. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, yet felt he had to look almost anywhere else.”
  • Eric asks if, “girls [are] all born with the ability to rip your balls off with a look?”
  • Lana is horny and crazy. She tells Eric, “I could have unzipped your pants instead of talking.”
  • Lana makes a pass at Danny. “She brought her face very close to Danny’s and locked her arms around his waist. Now her breasts were pressed against him and her breath was right in his nose and mouth and her lips were brushing his as she talked. ‘Jailbait boy, why aren’t you kissing me yet?’ . . . she basically rode him down onto the carpet . . . The pertinent fact, however, was that she was straddling him, and he was feeling things that he’d never felt before . . . She knelt up higher, reached behind and between her own thighs, snaked her fingers into Danny’s waistband on both sides, and started to pull down his pants and underwear . . . ‘Help me get her off him before she rapes him,’ said Eric to Ced.”
  • Eric jokes about bestiality, “Danny’s from the farm, he just wasn’t used to doing it with girls . . . Come on, you can’t tell me you didn’t get some quality time with that special ewe.”
  • Ced says, “She just has trust issues with men. Her mother had a lot of boyfriends and if they paid extra, she threw in Lana as a bonus.” When he hears this, Danny “wasn’t quite sure what Ced meant. Or rather, he was, but he couldn’t believe such a thing could be true.”
  • Danny thinks about how stupid he is. “SO stupid that when I just realized that I’d probably get killed, my only thought was to wish Lana would come up here and hump my brains out before I die.”
  • Ced jokes about ejaculation. ” ‘You know I hate being tickled!’ Lana screamed in his face. ‘Well, maybe the kid hates being half-raped,’ Ced answered mildly. ‘So now you’re even.’ ‘Now I have to change my pants!’ she said. ‘Bet he did, too,’ said Ced.”
  • A man checks Danny and his friends to see if they’re wired. “Yeah, well, you’re clean enough. You, George, drop trou or I’ll feel you up and maybe I’ll accidentally hurt your nads for calling me a perv.”
  • When Danny thinks about what he could do with his gates, “he had darker thoughts, ones he was ashamed of. If he wanted a career as a peeping tom, he could do it from his own bedroom and no one would ever know.”
  • Veevee says, “I’ve never been so happy to find out that another person existed since my mother first put her titty in my mouth.”
  • Stone guesses that Lana will, “probably become a secretary, seduce the boss, break up his family, and then make his life a living hell till he divorces her . . . But if he can’t keep his fly zipped, he’s the natural prey of angry damaged women who are careless about underwear.”
  • Danny tells a girl at his school that, “for a girl who doesn’t care if anybody likes her, you sure go to a lot of effort to show off cleavage,” and “I’ll be studying your cleavage all year.”

Violence

  • Danny’s existence breaks a treaty so, “if he screwed up and got caught, [his family] would have killed him and still would kill him just as quickly as anybody else.”
  • Danny said if someone was caught fooling around with a sheep, “Grandpa Gyish would have him killed. Great-uncle Zog would do it himself . . . And then they’d bury him in the family graveyard on Hammernip Hill.”
  • When Danny is burgling a home, he finds a trap door. “A horrible smell rose from the hole. He knew the smell. A dead animal . . . [he] found what he was halfway expecting—four bodies lying tied up on the floor. The man was the one who stank—bullet hole through his forehead, and his body was rotting. But the other three—one white woman, one black woman, and a white pre-teen girl—were not rotting. They weren’t conscious either, however, and Danny guessed that they had been here a pretty long time without water—long enough for the husband to start stinking.”
  • Eric loves breaking into people’s homes. “To be inside a stranger’s home, while they’re there asleep, knowing you didn’t trip any alarms . . . you can go wherever you want, take whatever you want. You’re like an angel, you’re so powerful . . . Yeah I walked around a little. Took a couple of things. Looked at a couple of girls who slept naked on a hot night. Who wouldn’t?”
  • Lana threatens to “kill you, you little prick,” with a table knife. Danny is pretty sure she is joking.
  • When Danny threatens the safety of some mages, Stone slaps him. “To Danny’s shock, Stone slapped him across the face— Danny staggered to the side and he couldn’t help it that tears came to his eyes.”
  • Danny and Eric are attacked by a criminal. “Eric was right behind him, but then he heard a cry of pain and a thud and he whirled around to see Eric sprawled on the floor, writhing in agony, and Rico just unwinding from a massive swing of the bat . . . ‘Hold still and take your medicine,’ said Rico, ‘Or I’ll just keep smacking your buddy’s head till it pops like a melon.’ “
  • Eric chews a man’s thumb off. “Eric had twisted himself into position to gnaw on Rico’s right thumb. It was spouting blood, which was pouring out of Eric’s mouth. He had a feral look in his eyes . . . He was growling like a dog, like a bear. Then he fell backward and spat out the thumb. And spat again and again, trying to get the blood out of his mouth.”
  • Leslie points out that Danny, “could gate your way into my chest and pull my heart out right now. Or squeeze it hard and make it stop.”
  • Danny witnesses an assassination. “Then he gripped the top of her head and pushed the needle-like blade into her eye, then churned it around the fulcrum of the hole in the bone through which the optic nerve would pass . . . When Luvix drew out the blade, a spurt of blood followed it, and brain and eye matter seemed to cling to it.”
  • Hull is killed for knowing too much. “She stepped into the darkness of her room, holding no candle because she knew the place by heart. She only heard one breath, one step, and then the dagger was in the top of her spine, just under the neck. Which whack, back and forth, and she felt no pain as she dropped to the floor . . . Alone in the dark, her brain starved from lack of air, and without pain or even fear, Hull died.”
  • A woman is stabbed. “The soldier stabbed into the cave with his pike . . . Her bleeding body tumbled from the cave mouth toward the lake.
  • Wad’s son is killed. “He found Trick’s body smothered under the gown of the last nurse who had been on duty . . . For a moment he thought of a terrible justice: putting the body of his son back into Bexoi’s womb, to share the space with his half-brother, only a month away from birth . . . the body would decay and rot inside her, and soon wreak vengeance on his monstrous mother and his usurping wombmate.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ced says, “I told you to just walk in, morons. Anybody rings the bell, we assume it’s the law. I was this close to flushing my stash.”
  • Ced smokes a joint.
  • Eric hides his money from his family because” ‘They’d just drink it up.’ ‘What’ll you do with it?’ asked Danny. ‘New clothes. A bus ticket. And then I’ll eat and drink the rest till I have to start begging again.’ “
  • A man tries to kill a queen with a vial of poison. Later, the queen uses that poison to kill the assassin’s co-conspirator.
  • The queen tried to trap Wad with poison. “Queen Bexoi engulfed the wooden doll in unnatural flame that created bitter smoke. The doll had been painted with something, and the smoke from its burning dulled his mind.”

Language

  • Bastard is said several times. When Danny leaves his family, he thinks, “Well screw you, all you cheap murdering bastards. If you think I’m ever coming back, think again.”
  • The words crap, shit, and damn are said often. For example, a detective tells Danny to “Put your damn pants back on!” Eric says he, “Came back for Christmas. Say hi to my mom, tell my dad to eat shit and die.”
  • Bullshit and Asshole are used several times. Eric tells his friend that, “Your stepdad isn’t the only asshole on planet Earth.”
  • Hell is said a few times. Eric tells Danny, “You must be one hell of a lucky thief to get away with all this on your first try.”
  • Lana says, “. . . on Wednesdays I’m such a slut.”

Supernatural

  • “School was something the children endured in the mornings, so they could spend the afternoons learning how to create the things that commoners called fairies, ghosts, golems, trolls, werewolves, and other such miracles that were the heritage of the North family.
  • People born to magic families who lack magic are called drekka, which is a derogatory term. None magical people are called drowther.
  • People with magic have affinities with certain elements or animals. “His father, Alf, a Rockbrother with an affinity for pure metals, had found a way to get inside the steel of machines and make them run almost without friction, and without lubrication . . . Danny’s mother . . . [was] a lightmage who had learned to change the color of reflected light so that she could make things nearly invisible, or hide them in shadows, or make them glow bright as the sun.”
  • Danny thinks about when magical families lived like gods. “When the Westilian families ruled the world as gods of the Phrygians, the Hittites, the Greeks, the Celts, the Persians, the Hindi, the Slavs, and of course the Norse, the lives of common people were nasty, brutish and short . . . The world would be better if there had never been such gods as these. Taking whatever we wanted because we could . . . who did we think we were?”
  • Danny can make gates in space that lead from one place to another—
  • A boy lives in a tree for several centuries. “The bark didn’t tear, it merely opened, or not even that, it simply receded so that his face emerged as if from water.”
  • Danny considers manmagic, “truly evil. To take possession of the mind and body of another human being? That would be slavery. Not that anybody would mind if one of the Family did such a thing to drowthers.”
  • Danny and his parents theorize that spacetime (everything in the causal universe) is a prankster. Danny believes he serves spacetime by being a jokester and a prankster.
  • Westilians can create clants, which are bodies they control. Some look like fairies made out of twigs, but some can create “a perfect image . . . Wad marveled at how smoothly and gracefully it moved.”

Spiritual Content

  • When Danny runs away from home, he steals clothes and shoes from Walmart.
  • Danny and Eric make money by begging and stealing.
  • Danny thinks, “The god of these Americans wasn’t one of the old pantheons of the Norths or the Greeks or the Indians . . . The god was the people themselves. Imagine—a nation that worshiped each other. Not individually, but as an idea.”
  • When Danny finds a family tied up, he calls the police. But Eric says, “They’ll never recover from the experience, their lives will be shitty, they’ll wish they had died, so what exactly did you accomplish?” Danny argues, “If I hadn’t called the cops it would have been the same thing as murdering them myself.” Eric says, “No, it wouldn’t . . . It would be the same thing as never going into the house and therefore not knowing.”
  • Danny doesn’t kill a criminal, but he allows the criminal’s partner the opportunity to kill him. The partner takes the opportunity.
  • Veevee finds a gate inside a church. She mentions that if she went through it, then the pastor would “probably interpret it as some kind of heavenly visitation. Those Semitics are so eager to believe that their gods are still talking to them.” Danny says that he, ” ‘always thought their God was . . . ‘ ‘Really God?’ she prompted, amused. ‘A myth. Like Santa Claus,’ ” Danny replies.
  • A girl accuses Danny of healing her. “Wow,” Danny says, “For a girl named Sin, she’s doing pretty well with faith healing.”

by Morgan Lynn

Took

When Daniel and his sister move to rural West Virginia, Daniel doesn’t think things can get any worse.  The students at his new school torment him. The teachers are indifferent. He has no friends. His parents are unhappy. And to make matters worse, his sister spends all of her time talking to her doll.

When Daniel hears stories of Old Auntie, who kidnaps a girl every 50 years, he thinks it’s just an old tale used to frighten children. But then he feels someone watching him. He sees strange shadows. And when his sister suddenly disappears, Daniel is convinced Old Auntie isn’t just a story.

As Daniel’s parents lose themselves in grief, Daniel decides he must face his fears and bring his sister home. With the help of his neighbor and one of Old Auntie’s descendants, Daniel fights for his sister’s freedom.

Right from the start, Took: A Ghost Story will capture the reader’s attention. Young readers will be able to relate to Daniel, who feels as if all of life’s decisions are out of his control. Although Daniel clearly cares for his parents and sister, his frustration with them is understandable. Daniel is a likable character, who faces his fears and in the end, brings his family back together.

The story is primarily told from Daniel’s point of view but has several chapters told from Old Auntie’s point of view. This adds suspense to the story and helps develop the creepy mood. This is not a book to read with the lights out. Because Old Auntie and Bloody Bones are described in such realistic, vivid detail, readers will be entertained and frightened.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Bloody Bones kills someone. “Tore him clean apart with the panther’s teeth and ate him up. Then he dug his grave with the bear’s claws and brushed the ground smooth with the raccoon’s tail.”
  • The kids at school are mean to Daniel. They “accidentally” hit him and kick the back of his seat on the bus.
  • When Daniel and his sister, Erica, are in the woods, Daniel sees something and forces Erica to leave with him. They get into a fight. “. . . She struggled harder to get away from me, crying and screaming . . . she managed to bite me twice and scratch my face.”
  • Bloody Bones is going to throw Daniel off of a cliff, so Eric throws rocks at him. “Bloody Bones plunged over the edge of the cliff, screaming as he bounced from rock to rock, his bones flying apart and scattering as he went.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Daniel and Erica’s parents are seen drinking wine. When Erica is “took,” their parents drink even more. “There was an empty wine bottle on the table and an ashtray full of cigarette butts and ashes.”
  • When Daniel goes to a friend’s house, his friend’s father smells of beer and cigarette smoke.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The story revolves around Old Auntie, a “conjure woman” who takes a girl every 50 years. When she takes a girl, she returns the one that was “took;” however, the girl is the same age as she was when she was first “took” and has no memory of her former life. Auntie weaves spells to influence people’s decisions.
  • One character describes Old Auntie as “a haunt come back from her grave.”
  • Old Auntie takes the form of a girl, so she can talk to Erica without scaring her. Auntie also uses a doll to convince Erica that no one loves her except Auntie.
  • Auntie has a razorback hog, called Bloody Bones, which she called back from the dead. “His bones put themselves together and rose up on their hind feet. His skull jumped on top of the bones, and off he danced.”

Spiritual Content

  • The townspeople are mean to the new family because they do not join the only church in town. “We weren’t only outsiders, we were godless outsiders.”

Strange Star

In 1816 Switzerland, Lordy Byron and his guests have gathered around the fire to tell ghost stories. A pounding on the door reveals a strange girl covered in unusual scars, and she tells a chilling tale of her sister being snatched by Mary Shelley, one of the guests at the party.

The girl, Lizzie, tells her story of losing her mother, and almost losing her life to the experiments of an ambitious scientist. This scientist wants to use the power of electricity to bring the dead back to life. And she wants to use Lizzie in one of her experiments. Lizzie’s story was inspired by the book Frankenstein.  Although the story has been adapted for a younger audience, the story will still give the audience a frightful chill. For the younger reader who likes to be frightened Strange Star is a creepy good horror story.

Sexual Content

  • Miss Goodwin’s father comes looking for her when she “runs away” with a man. “He’s come to bring her home before she brings shame on the family.”

Violence

  • A scientist orders her servant to kidnap Peg, who is locked in a cellar. As Lizzie tries to save her, they enter a room that has specimens, “like baby animals and birds and toads with two heads!”
  • After his employer scolds Mr. Walton, he takes out his humiliation on a servant. “Next came the thud of a fist hitting flesh. . . It was about his own humiliation. And like all bullies, he had to inflict it on someone else.”
  • Miss Stine and others grab Lizzie . “. . . More hands seized me, pulling my arms behind my back. I twisted. Shouted. Kicked out with my feet. I was no match for the two, maybe three sets of hands. They yanked me and turned me till I was sure my arms would be torn from their sockets.” She is tied to a chair, and wires are put on her. “She pressed cold metal against those places on my head, neck and feet. Wires crisscrossed my face.” Lizzie is let go when a dead wolf is brought in and Miss Stine decides to experiment on it instead of Lizzie.
  • When Lizzie tries to leave Miss Stien’s house, she is stopped. “We grappled our way down the passage like a pair of fighting village boys, all arms and elbows and kicking feet. Once or twice I slipped in something wet. Something oily. I didn’t want to think what it means . . . With my arms now pinned behind my back by his hand, I couldn’t wriggle free.”
  • A wolf attacks a man. “There was frenzy of claws. Snarling. Snapping. Something sounding horribly wet. Then came a rip, a tearing noise like a rabbit being skinned. And gurgling and gasping that was definitely human.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Mercy believes that Lizzie and her mom are going to die because she saw their spirits in the cemetery on Midwinter’s Eve. “Pass by a church at midnight on Midwinter’s Eve and you’d see an entering it the souls of those who’d face death within the year. Those who came out again would survive. And those who didn’t . . .” Later in the year, lightning strikes Lizzie and her mom. Her mom dies.
  • Miss Stine believes the dead can be brought back to life with electricity. Miss Stine attaches wires to a wolf’s head, paws, and chest. When electricity surges through the wolf, he comes back to life.

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Stone Child

Eddie has a lot on his plate. A new town, a new school, and a missing author. The missing man happens to be Eddie’s favorite author, a man famous for his scary stories. A man who hasn’t been seen for thirteen years. A man whose monsters seem to be walking right off the pages of his best-selling novels.

When Eddie finds an unfinished novel with the worst monster yet, he knows he cannot let that monster, The Woman, into his world. He and his friends set off to figure out what happened to the monsters’ author and to discover how his stories are coming to life. What they find is more terrifying and more dangerous than they ever imagined. Soon the fate of the world relies on three kids racing against time. For once The Woman’s story is complete, she will be able to torment our world.

The Stone Child is a spooky story with loads of suspense. It is written for younger readers with an appetite for mysteries, but may not be the best choice for children who scare easily.  Eddie has creepy encounters with supernatural beings. Although monsters chase Eddie and his friends, the scenes are not graphic.

Eddie does get into a bit of trouble for the sake of the mystery. He trespasses, cuts class, and lies to his parents about where he is and what he is doing. But the whole time he is trying to stop The Woman, he is working to keep his parents and the rest of the world safe.

Sexual Content

  • Harris warns Eddie, “‘She’s a real witch…Be careful. She probably put a spell on you. You might fall in love with her and have little witch babies.’ Then he started kissing his own hand in a really gross way.”

Violence

  • Eddie and his family crash into a strange creature. “His father smashed his foot against the brake pedal. The car began to fishtail; the tires squealed. Eddie felt himself jerk forward against the seat belt . . Then came the horrible crunch as the front of the car crashed into the creature, sending it flying into the greenish darkness of the woods.”
  • Eddie says a creepy guy was “sort of cool.” His mother jokes, “If serial killers are cool, then sure.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Hell is said twice. For example, Harris screams, “You scared the hell out of us!”

Supernatural

  • People believe in the Olmstead Curse. They think characters that Olmstead wrote about have come alive in the town of Gatesweed.
  • People say a ghost haunts the woods behind Olmstead’s old house.

Spiritual Content

  • The Garden of Eden becomes a central part of the mystery. According to what Eddie discovers, two statues guarded the garden against “creatures…doomed to exile.” These creatures are the ones haunting Gatesweed. Lilith, Adam’s first wife, was banished from the garden. “Lilith’s only companions in her new home were the Exiled – the most vile wretched creatures.” Those creatures have escaped from another world into ours, and now Lilith is trying to follow suit.

by Morgan Lynn

Liesl & Po

Liesl’s cruel stepmother keeps her locked away in an attic. With nothing to do, Liesl spends her time looking out a tiny window and drawing. One lonely night, a ghost named Po appears from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are less lonely when they are together. When Liesl’s father dies, she is determined to take his ashes to a special place. With Po’s help, Liesl is able to escape and the two embark on a dangerous adventure to bury her father.

The alchemist’s apprentice, Will, leads a miserable life. His one joy is to look at the small girl in the attic window. Late one night, Will accidentally mixes up a major delivery. Now, the person who ordered the most powerful magic in the world will stop at nothing to get her potion that Will failed to send to her.

The lives of the children—Will, Leisl, and Po—intersect as they help each other avoid the adults who would like to capture them.

Lauren Oliver writes a beautiful story that shows the power of friendship. Although Liesl & Po is age-appropriate, the story shows a frightening version of the Other Side—a place where the dead lose their shape and their memories. Another aspect that may frighten younger readers is the terrible actions of the adults in the story. The alchemist verbally abuses Will. Liesl’s stepmother plots the murder of Liesl’s father and attempts to kill Liesl. The other adults (except one) in the story are just as vile. However, the story ends in a satisfying way, leaving the reader with hope.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • One of the alchemist’s apprentices was accidentally turned into a mouse, “just as the alchemist’s scrawny, always hungry tabby cat had come swishing in through the cat door.”
  • Augusta wants to kill her husband and stepdaughter, but she is afraid to kill both at the same time. Therefore, she uses poison to kill her husband because “the slow death of a middle-aged man is hardly likely to be attributed to poison, especially when the poison is administered teaspoon by teaspoon, a bit in the soup every day, over the course of a year.”
  • Will overhears a conversation when a factory worker says, “The problem is the boys. We’re running through ‘em! We’re running out! Boys are losing limbs, fingers, toes. One of the boys had his head chopped off last month.”
  • Someone tries to grab Liesl. “During her frantic struggles against the Lady Premiere, she had smacked her head against the door jam and gone as limp as a lettuce leaf.” Lady Premiere then locks Liesl in a room.
  • Augusta tries to feed Liesl soup that she has poisoned. When Liesl refuses to eat it, “Augusta, enraged, sprang to her feet. She grabbed Liesl by the shoulders and shook her . . . Augusta shook Liesl so hard that her teeth knocked together.” Augusta then tells Liesl she can eat the soup and die slowly or she can starve to death.
  • Two siblings are seen “hopping and twisting and slapping each other.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Po meets a ghost who died in a bar brawl.
  • Augusta kills her husband with poison.
  • Augusta says that her maid was, “dropped on her head quite frequently as a baby. Her mother was a hopeless drunk.”
  • An innkeeper thinks about a time when she served her customers “weak wine.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Po is a ghost who explains how death works. Some people go “straight on,” and others go to the Other Side. The Other Side is “vast and filled with ghosts.” When new people cross over to the “dark and twisting corridors,” people lose their shape and memories. When people first get to the Other Side, “they become a part of darkness, of the vast spaces between starts.”
  • When people die, they blend and become part of the Everything. “The ghost reminded itself that losing form was natural, and good, and the way things were in the universe.”
  • Po takes Liesl to the Other Side. “. . . She was aware of the sensation of Po inside her, urging her forward, like suddenly feeling a division down your middle and being two people . . .” Po leads Liesl through the Other Side, and then opens a passage so Liesl can go back to the living world.
  • When people first get to the Other Side they are often confused because they do not understand where they are. “All those new ghosts: All they wanted was to go back to the Living Side.” In order to help Liesl, Po tells the new ghost to follow him because the path would lead them home. Instead, they go to the Living World. “Because they were very new ghosts, they had not started to blend yet, and so were quite visible. . . Some had holes in their faces, or were missing arms or legs, where their physical selves had begun to dissipate and merge with the rest of the universe.”
  • Liesl’s father returns from the Other Side and accuses his wife, Augusta, of killing him. Augusta then reveals that the alchemist gave her “Pernicious Poison: Dead as a Doorknob, or Your Money Back.”
  • After helping Liesl, Po and Bundle appear as solid shapes. “They were golden—they’d been dipped in gold—no—they were made of gold. And then the golden Po-shape turned into tan brown arms and shoulders, a ring of curly yellow hair, and a laughing smile. . . ” Then he disappeared “to Beyond.”
  • Will works for an alchemist who makes spells. For one spell, Will “spent the whole day grinding up cow eyes, and measuring the blood of lizards into different-sized vials . . .”
  • The alchemist can make spells that “turned frogs into goats and goats into mugs of tea. He made people grow wings or third legs. Recently he had mastered a tincture that would make a person disappear entirely.”

 Spiritual Content

  • None

Ghost Attack

When Alex and his cousin Sarah visit their grandparents, they don’t expect to find a ghost. Alex gets terrible red hives every time a mysterious ghost is near. Even though Alex screams every time the ghost appears, the ghost persists in showing up. Alex and Sarah decide to delve into Thistle’s Fall’s history to find out who the persistent ghost is and how they can help him.

Full of humor, Ghost Attack has a suspenseful plot that will keep readers interested. The easy-to-read story has many good aspects—a loving family, a lesson about making assumptions, and lively squirrels.  David Lubar weaves mystery and ghosts into a non-scary story that is fun to read. Readers will be eager to pick up the next book in the series—Monster Itch #2: Vampire Trouble.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Ghosts haunt Thistle’s Falls. “There were railroad brakeman ghosts, tragic romance ghosts, stranded pioneer ghosts, and pretty much every other kind of ghost you could imagine.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Eva Sees a Ghost

After Eva Wingdale’s teacher tells the class a spooky story, Eva sees a ghost flying through the air. When Eva tells her friend, no one believes her. Eva and her class go on a ghost hunt, but the ghost does not appear. Can this determined little owl prove that there is a ghost in Teutopolis?

Eva uses problem-solving skills as she tries to prove the ghost is real. Through Eva’s story, younger readers will be reminded of the difference between what is imaginary and what is real.  Eva Sees a Ghost is a fun ghost story written specifically for newly independent readers. Bright and colorful pictures illustrate every page. The ghost in the story is shown as just a white blur (and turns out to be a snowy owl). The text is easy to read and has a simple plot.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Eva’s Treetop Festival

Eva Wingdale loves her new dairy. By writing in her diary, she tells of her desire to start the first Owelmentary Bloomtastic Festival. Eva wants to organize everything in the spring festival including a fashion show, a talent show, an art show, and a bake-off. However, she soon discovers that she does not have enough time to do everything and must ask for help. With the help of her classmates, the Owelmentary Bloomtastic Festival turns into a hoot of a good time.

Eva’s Treetop Festival is the first book in the Owl Dairies series and is specifically aimed at newly independent readers. Bright and colorful pictures illustrate every page and bring Eva’s world to life. The text is easy to read and has a simple plot.

Younger readers will be able to empathize with Eva as she struggles with her fear of speaking in front of the class, her inability to do everything herself, and her dislike of a “mean” classmate. Eve’s dislike of Sue is clear when she writes that Sue is “always sticking her bat into my business. And she is SO mean. Her name should be Meany MeMearnerson.” In the end, Sue ends up helping make the festival a success.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

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