ghosts – Page 4 – Mom Read It

Fiction, Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Skin crawling YA horror: The Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics

Posted on September 9, 2016September 7, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics (Sept. 2016, Harlequin Teen), $18.99, ISBN: 9780373211944

Recommended for ages 13+

Lucy Acosta lives with her cousin, Margaret, her aunt, Penelope, and her father, Felix, in a Victorian mansion in the middle of the woods. Her mother died when she was three, leaving her to be raised by her loving aunt and distant father. When Lucy is 17, Penelope takes a walk into the woods and disappears, throwing the household into chaos. Margaret, Penelope’s daughter, is becoming unhinged, telling Lucy that she hears her dead mother talking to her through the walls, telling her to join her. Her father, obsessed with throwing dinner parties for the exclusive club he belongs to, ignores Lucy’s pleas for help; he won’t accept any sign of weakness. As Lucy tries to get to the bottom of the voices in the walls, she starts hearing them too; and when she begins digging into her family’s legacy, the things she find may doom her.

This was a gloriously creepy novel with just enough gore to move it from haunted house novel to horror. Think Wicker Man meets The Legacy (wow, did I just date myself with that reference), with wonderful madness tossed in, to make things interesting. Be warned, delicate sensibilities and stomachs may find some of the language and violence too much. This is not a book for your conservative readers.

Lucy and Margaret are fairy skin-deep characters with the potential for deeper storytelling, but it’s not really their story, as you’ll discover. The real development is going on around them. Think of Lucy as the narrator – which she is – and the host of the story. She’s the central character, but she’s in the dark almost as much as we readers are. The supporting characters are where the story lies, and when the elements all come together, this is a page-turning read. Horror and suspense fans will enjoy this one.

Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

“Weekend Person Needed” at The Ministry of Ghosts

Posted on June 20, 2016June 20, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Ministry of Ghosts, by Alex Shearer (May 2016, Sky Pony Press), $15.99, ISBN: 9781510704732

Recommended for ages 8-12

Minister Beeston, from the Department of Economies, is a superior bean counter. Nothing goes to waste under his watch, so when The Ministry of Ghosts comes to his attention, he is determined to shut them down: ghosts! Preposterous! The fact that they’ve been around for hundreds of years, with no proof that ghosts exist makes him even more flustered – think of all the taxpayer money that’s been wasted! He’s having no more of it. He gives the Ministry three months to prove the existence – or nonexistence – of ghosts, or he’s shutting them down, and reassigning some members to the Department of Sewage! The horror! The Ministry takes action, ultimately hiring help: a boy and a girl, Tim and Thruppence, after hearing that ghosts may be more likely to appear to kids. As the twosome commence investigating, they won’t believe what they learn, and neither will you.

I enjoyed Ministry of Ghosts. It took a bit to ramp up, but once the storyline kicked in, it was a fun read with likable characters and a good sense of humor. There are a few plot twists that are very satisfying. It’s not a scary story – kids looking for a scary book or some thrills and chills aren’t going to find it here, but readers will find a book with great dialogue between characters and a sweetly humorous story that will make you feel good at the close.

I’d booktalk this with Karen Foxlee’s Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy and Laurel Gale’s Dead Boy. YA Books Central has an excerpt if you want to read more.

Fiction, Horror, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Dare you venture into The Haunted Mansion?

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Tales from The Haunted Mansion, Volume 1: The Fearsome Foursome, by Amicus Arcane (July 2016, Disney-Hyperion), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-4847-1329-7

Recommended for ages 9-12

Four school friends band together over a mutual love of horror stories, forming the group, The Fearsome Foursome. One night, the friends find themselves at a spooky house – a mansion – and head inside, where they meet librarian, Amicus Arcane, who sits them down to tell them a few stories. But the stories are starring each of the foursome, and things get a little spooky from there. Inspired by the Disney ride, The Haunted Mansion, this is the first volume of short stories starring the ride’s narrator and Haunted Mansion librarian, Amicus Arcane, and is sprinkled with little references to the Disney experience.

If you haven’t been to Disney and don’t know much about the ride, you won’t miss a thing. It’s still a book of good, macabre stories – like Goosebumps, taken up a notch – for middle graders. If you are familiar with the ride, though, these little references are an added wink and nudge, giving you a little creepy chuckle that runs up your spine; right next to that little chill that’s headed in the same direction.

The stories are fun, spooky, and come with a twist, and the final reveal made me look forward to reading more. There are hideous sea creatures, possessed baseball mitts, witch bones, and a dare that will leave readers cringing. It’s a fast, fun read; perfect for a summer book. I’d love to see a graphic novel adaptation – any chance we’ll get one, Disney?

A fun add to burgeoning horror collections. Booktalk it with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and, naturally, Goosebumps.

Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Science, Mystery, and Magic: The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee

Posted on May 10, 2016May 10, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee, by Erin Petti/Illustrated by Kris Aro McLeod, (Sept. 2016, Mighty Media), $16.99, ISBN: 9781938063725

Recommended for ages 9-13

Eleven year-old Thelma Bee is always doing something. She’s reading, she’s working on science experiments, she’s hanging out with her best friend – a guy! – Alexander. Her father runs an antique shop in town and her mother is always off on some kind of adventure, exploring and searching for different animals, so she’s got adventuring and imagination in her blood. When a dour woman shows up at her father’s shop with a small box, things start going very, very wrong: her father is kidnapped by a ghost that very night, and it’s up to Thelma, Alexander, and a local group of ghost hunters to get him back safely. It’s a scary mission, but one Thelma has to undertake – and she’ll learn a lot about herself in the process.

The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee is so much fun! Middle graders are going to love the smart, spunky middle grader that doesn’t care about the mean girls and their dopey fashion choices – she has better things to do. When her dad is kidnapped by a ghost, right in front of her, she charges into action, amassing the facts she knows and researching what she needs to fill in the gaps of her knowledge and save her dad. She’s a great heroine for middle graders, girls and boys alike, because she shows that science, facts, and a clear path of reasoning will get you through some tough times.

The book is fast-paced, leading us into action pretty quickly, and not letting any lag set in. I’ll be booktalking this one hard, and pairing her with Hermione (Harry Potter) and Annabeth (Percy Jackson) for my fantasy-loving readers. Put this one right next to Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, Sally Gardner’s Wings & Co. series, and Karen Foxlee’s Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy to create a solid girl-power reading display.

The book trailer is below, and you can visit Mighty Media’s Thelma Bee page here. Erin Petti’s author page is here.

If you’re going to be at BEA/Book Con this week, I am SO envious! Have a great time, and visit Mighty Media at Booth 2170 when you get a chance! They’ll be at BookCon from 10am-6pm, and Erin Petti will be signing ARC’s of The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee at 1PM, with a bookstore event to follow at 5pm at (Uncharted Books).

Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Middle School, Tween Reads

Kick Foot Academy is back in session: Joey and Johnny, the Ninjas: Epic Fail

Posted on April 16, 2016April 16, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Joey and Johnny, The Ninjas: Epic Fail, by Kevin Serwacki/Illustrated by Chris Pallace, (Apr. 2016, Balzer+Bray), $12.99, ISBN: 9780062299352

Recommended for ages 8-12

Things are finally getting back to what passes for normal at the Kick Foot ninja academy: Joey and Johnny’s shoddy reconstruction of the school is saved by a dragon attack (of sorts), leading to a proper rebuilding, and classes are back underway. Joey and Johnny learn, however, that their friend and fellow student, Peoni, is planning a secret tea ceremony – one of the most dangerous things a ninja can attend, let alone plan – to appease the spirits of ninjas who didn’t survive previous tea ceremonies. Joey and Johnny have found their new mission: help Peoni assemble a flawless ceremony while keeping it a secret from the headmaster – the only survivor of a tea party in recent memory – who has forbidden so much as a mention of the event.

This is the second book in The Ninjas series; the first, Joey & Johnny, The Ninjas: Get Mooned, hit stores last year. The series is great for readers who love a frenetically-paced, humorous story. There’s a lot of storytelling thrown in here: pirates vs. ninjas; sentient forests; a fellow student on his own quest, and the determined messenger bird who keeps following him; and a tea ceremony. There are a lot of subplots to keep in the air, but younger readers who like action-packed stories with lots of laughs will gravitate to this series. Black and white drawings throughout will keep them interested.

The best part of the book for me was the actual tea ceremony: who doesn’t love a tea ceremony, with ghosts, that’s begging to break out in chaos?

A good additional purchase for summer reading, especially; display this with your Big Nate, Bad Kitty, and Timmy Failure books.

Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

The Poe Estate: Like Warehouse 13, for tweens!

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Poe Estate, by Polly Shulman (Sept. 2015, Nancy Paulsen Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9780399166143

Recommended for ages 10-14

Sukie’s not having an easy time of it these days. Her older sister, Kitty, has passed away but has vowed to always protect her – often to the point of scaring away potential new friends. Now, she’s living in some huge, creepy mansion with her distant cousin, an elderly woman named Hepzibah, and she’s dreaming about ghosts that look like her and her classmate, Cole. She’s hearing all sorts of wacky stories about magic brooms and doorknobs, and when two employees from the New-York Circulating Material Repository show up to her family’s flea market stand, she hears things she really can’t believe – but together with Cole, Hepzibah, and her new friends from the Repository, she’s off on an adventure full of adventure, pirates, possibly some romance, and maybe, just maybe, a hint of fiction – or not. Now, if only Kitty will give her some space to grow up…

The lines between fiction and reality blur in The Poe Estate, which makes it fantastic reading for tweens and young teens. It’s full of imagination and literary references, but first and foremost, it’s fun. Readers start off thinking they’re getting an interesting ghost story, but The Poe Estate becomes so much more – it’s an adventure tale heavily imbued with fantasy and book lovers won’t be able to help but think, “I knew it!” about literary artifacts they’ve always treasured. I don’t want to drop any spoilers, so I’ll just reiterate that any fans of Warehouse 13 will love this book, and fans of something new and exciting, with a light touch of reality, will enjoy. I enjoyed the characters and would love to see more tales from the Repository – after reading, so will you. Anyone unfamiliar with the SyFy Channel series Warehouse 13 can watch episodes here.

Need a good reading group activity to go with this book? Have your readers create their own Repositories, loaded with artifacts they’d track down and store there. And watch a couple of episodes of The Librarians while you’re at it.

Polly Shulman is also the author of The Grimm Legacy (a Bank Street Best Book and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Finalist) and The Wells Bequest. Her author website includes a list of her books, a bio and FAQ, and social media links.

Early Reader, Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Intermediate, Uncategorized

Paranormal fiction for beginners: Seymour Strange

Posted on August 28, 2015August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Seymour Strange: How to Trick a One-Eyed Ghost, by Susan Lurie/Illus. by Victor Rivas (December 2015, Blue Apple Books), $6.99, ISBN: 9781609055554

Recommended for ages 6-8

Seymour Strange (that’s not his real last name) sees ghosts, even if no one else does. In his first adventure, How to Trick a One-Eyed Ghost, Seymour and his best friend, Ozzie, find themselves being chased by three wacky ghosts.

This is a fun early chapter book, perfect for readers who are ready for a little extra thrills and chills in their fiction, but aren’t quite ready for Goosebumps – in fact, author Susan Lurie was the Goosebumps series editor. There’s a great mix of humor and wacky, creepy fun in this debut – no nightmares need apply here.

Seymour Strange: How to Trick a One-Eyed Ghost is part of Blue Apple’s I Can Read Chapters series; paperbacks with a smaller trim size and denser text that are just right for readers with growing competence who are ready to move on from Blue Apple’s Jump-Into-Chapter series.

Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

The Asylum Series, Volume 3: Catacomb

Posted on August 26, 2015August 24, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Catacomb, by Madeleine Roux (Sept. 2015, HarperCollins), $17.99, ISBN: 9780062364050

Recommended for ages 12+

Here we are, the third volume in Madeleine Roux’s Asylum series. For this one, we head to one of the most paranormal-friendly cities in America: New Orleans. Abby, Dan, and Jordan are taking one more road trip; this time, relocating Jordan to his Uncle Steve in Nawlins, where he’ll be living and attending Tulane University.

Everyone has their own agenda, though. Abby’s pretty sure she’s taking a year off from college to pursue her art and photography; she’s investigating a famous criminal who has a history in the South. Dan has leads on his parents – his birth parents, not Paul and Sandy, the adoptive parents who adore him. He wants to understand more about why he was abandoned to the foster care system and hopes to find answers; he’s got some clues he found in the paperwork from Sanctum.

The action starts quickly enough. While on the road, the teens discover they’re being watched, even photographed. And then, Dan starts receiving Facebook messages. From Micah. Who really isn’t anywhere near a reliable Wi-Fi reception, so this presents a huge problem. They find themselves stuck in another mystery, involving another secret society, but this time, Dan’s directly in their sights.

There’s a lot of revelation happening in this book, and the paranormal aspect is back. We’ve got a secret society that’s truly chilling, tied into voudou and grave robbing. The big bad is pretty obvious from the get-go, but he’s supposed to be; the big twist is waiting for you closer to the end. The biggest question I had going in was how the heck do Dan’s parents keep letting him go away on these trips? He comes back beaten, stabbed, and traumatized each time; I’d never let my kid out of the house again.

I enjoyed Catacomb and think it brings all the storylines to a satisfying close. The Brookline connection felt a little forced, so I’m glad it was a piece that Ms. Roux touched on, and let be. The photos are mostly from Abby’s point of view this time, which adds a nice connection with the character and her point of view.

If you’re in the mood for a good, creepy trilogy, the Asylum trilogy is for you. I’m looking forward to reading more from Madeleine Roux!

Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Rin Chupeco’s The Suffering returns to the J-Horror from The Girl from the Well

Posted on August 19, 2015August 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Suffering, by Rin Chupeco (Sept. 2015, Sourcebooks Fire), $16.99, ISBN: 9781492629832

Recommended for ages 13+

Tark and Okiku, the boy and his ghost from The Girl from the Well are back in this sequel that takes a deeper look into the complex relationship Tark and Okiku now share following the events of the first book. Tark is now something of an exorcist, trapping wayward spirits in the bodies of dolls – a skill he learned spending time with the women of the temple in The Girl from the Well. Okiku is still restless and still seeks vengeance, spurring Tark on to hunt child murderers down so she can take her revenge and set the victims’ souls free. When he receives word that Kagura, one of the temple women, has disappeared along with a ghost hunting reality show crew in Aokigahara – Japan’s suicide forest – he and his cousin, Callie, head over to Japan to help: but what’s waiting for them is nothing they could ever have imagined.

I got sucked into The Suffering right away, because I enjoyed The Girl from the Well so much. We’ve got the same cast of characters returning for another go, and Ms. Chupeco gives us an increasingly deep look into the complex relationship between Okiku and Tark, with clues as to the changes in Okiku’s behavior between The Girl from the Well and The Suffering. There’s horror here, for sure, but there’s also mystery/thriller, and Japanese folklore. I was fascinated by the story behind Aokigahara, and Chupeco’s story takes the horror of a suicide forest even further to create a thoroughly skin-crawling reading experience. We get desiccated corpses, demonic dolls, avenging spirits, and a forest filled with dead people who may or may not want to stay that way- horror fans, turn down the lights and read this at your own risk. And when are we getting movies made about this series?

As with The Girl from the Well, more sensitive readers may shy away from the subject matter.

Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall is a good haunted house story

Posted on July 28, 2015July 28, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall, by Katie Alender (Aug. 2015, Scholastic) , $18.99, ISBN: 978054564000

Recommended for ages 12+

Delia just inherited a house from her great-aunt Cordelia, but it’s not just any house – it’s a former asylum for troubled females, and there’s an evil that’s keeping a lot of the former residents there. Delia, who’s already in trouble with her parents for being defiant, can feel right away that something’s wrong with the house, but her parents ignore her – and the house kills her. Now, Delia’s a ghost, and she’s got an eternity to unravel the secrets of Hysteria Hall.

This is a fun haunted house novel with an intriguing mystery that kept me turning pages until the end. Delia is a likable character – she’s a rebel, she argues with her parents and gets annoyed by her younger sister, but there’s something inherently likable about her. As a ghost, she’s witty and sarcastic, but she’s incredibly vulnerable at the same time. She loves her family and feels their loss just as much as they do hers.

Delia meets other ghosts during her time at Hysteria Hall, and we get fascinating back stories on them, all of which are integral to the plot. Most are likable – there are a couple that should rile readers up, as any good ghost story should.

Told in the first person in Delia’s voice, The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall is a good haunted house novel for readers who like their scary books lighter on the scary, heavier on the characters. I loved it, and can’t wait to get it on the shelves at my library. I foresee some great book discussions on this one.