Thirteens

 

by Kate Alice Marshall

Eleanor is the new girl in a tiny town. Her past is sad, and not really something you want to share with potential new friends, but she's doing her best to fit in. Unfortunately matters only gets worse when she starts seeing creepy things that no one else sees... a grandfather clock that appears out of nowhere, a big dog with red eyes, and a bird made of bones. Eventually she realizes that her classmates Pip and Otto see these "wrong things" too, and they find themselves as unwitting participants in a very old mystery. 

Not Quite a Ghost

by Anne Ursu
 

Violet’s new house has the space her growing family needs, but as soon as they move in, the house feels odd and lonely. Violet’s older sister Mia declares the attic room with the peeling yellow wallpaper to be “creepy,” so by default, that room becomes Violet’s. Violet is dealing with a lot of personal issues, including nervously starting middle school, and it doesn’t help when she gets sick the first week of school. When she’s finally able to return, she’s too tired for PE class, so she’s sent to study in the library. There she meets a boy named Will who regularly sits out PE due to health reasons. He’s researching ghosts and hauntings for a science credit, which Violet finds fascinating. She wants to help her new friend with his project, but her illness returns and she isn’t getting better. Visits to multiple doctors lead nowhere, and she ends up homebound in her attic room. The vines on the yellow wallpaper seem to be moving now, and she thinks she sees the shape of a girl trapped beneath them. She’s terrified, both of the girl, and her mysterious illness. Loosely based on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1892 short story The Yellow Wallpaper, this is a story about a haunted house, but it’s also a fresh, modern look at unexplained health issues, post-Covid anxiety, changing friendships, and blended families. 

What Lives in the Woods

                                                           

By Lindsay Currie

Ginny's dad renovates old houses, and he's got an opportunity to bring Woodmoor Manor back to life and restore it to its former glory. Ginny isn't happy about this, though--she'd rather be with her friends back in Chicago. Making matters worse, Woodmoor has a reputation for creepy events, and Ginny starts experiencing supernatural events herself. Can Ginny figure out what's causing the unexplained events? I really enjoy this author. She has such an easy-to-read style to her writing, and I love her scary, but not TOO scary plots. If you haven't given her a try yet, what are you waiting for?

 

The Lake House

by Sarah Beth Durst

Claire, Revya, and Mariana are strangers on their way to summer camp on a remote Maine island. When their boat driver drops them off, he directs them half a mile up a path to the Lake House, ensures them that they'll be greeted by the camp director, and leaves. When the girls reach the camp, they find to their horror that the house has recently burned down. It’s still smoking, and there are no signs of life. A run back to the dock reveals that the boat is long gone. There’s no cell service, there’s very little food, and they soon discover that whatever happened wasn’t an accident, which means they could be next. Part survival tale, part horror story, part coming-of-age tale–this book has a lot going for it. The action starts immediately, and doesn’t let up. The cast of characters is diverse and multi-faceted. Claire has crippling anxiety, Mariana is gifted at fixing cars and tinkering with machines, and Revya has a background in MMA fighting. Readers will enjoy watching these complex characters grow and change when confronted with unimaginable challenges. A plot twist takes the story in an unexpected direction, with plenty of nail-biting and chills-inducing moments. 
 

Hold Back the Tide

by Melinda Salisbury

Alva knows her father killed her mother years ago, but she doesn't know if he knows she knows... Not for sure, anyway. But she thinks he suspects, and she lives in fear of him finding out how much she hates him. She's 16 now, and she has a plan to escape. She has to be so careful to ensure her father doesn't suspect her plans. But Alva's about to learn something about her father, and her small Scottish village, that will change everything. 
 

Scritch Scratch

 

by Lindsay Currie

Claire's got problems. Her best friend has a new best friend, her big brother is a jerk, and her dad is trying to make ends meet by writing books about ghosts and giving ghost tours in a giant bus that takes tourists around Chicago. She hates that ghost bus. But when his assistant gets sick, he needs Claire to help pass out flyers and keep an eye on the tourists. On the bus, she catches a glimpse of a boy in old-fashioned clothes, soaking wet with haunting eyes. When she looks again, he's gone. Then strange things start happening at her house, like bathtubs overflowing and dresser drawers full of water. It's clear she's being haunted, but what does the ghost want from her? And why has he chosen Claire?

Long Lost

by Jacqueline West

I just kept coming back to this wonderful middle grade mystery! 

Fiona's sister Arden is a very talented figure skater. Arden's whole life, their parents have driven two hours to take her to intense practices and competitions, all in the hopes that she might have an Olympic and professional skating career. When their parents can't take the driving anymore, they uproot the whole family and move to Lost Lake, where the training center is. Fiona couldn't be less interested in Arden's skating, and is righteously indignant that she has to leave her present (friends, school) for Arden's future.

While the rest of the family goes to skate practice their first summer in Lost Lake, Fiona goes to the library. She finds a book with an enticing green cover, and gets involved in the story. One of the things I love about this book is that we (the readers) get to read the book as Fiona reads it, and we can see why she becomes so obsessed with it. When she realizes she can't take it home because she doesn't have  a library card yet, she hides it, but the next day the book is gone. The librarian is all shifty when she asks about it, and the creepy little blond boy who's always in the library too seems to know something. 

Where is the book? What's it really about? Will we, the readers, ever get to finish it along with Fiona?

 

When

by Victoria Laurie

Maddie has been able to see numbers on peoples' foreheads since she can remember, but until her father was killed in a police shootout, it didn't click to her or anyone else what those numbers meant. She's able to see the date people die, but she can't seem to do anything to change the outcome. Several years later, her devastated mom is an alcoholic, and has Maddie do "readings" for paying clients. She predicts the death of a client's son, and when that actually happens, the client calls the police. This leads Maddie on a nail-biting hunt for the killer. 

I loved how when a new character was introduced, the author would put the death date in parenthesis after their name. It was interesting to think about what it would be like to have a skill/talent/curse like this. 

 

Hide and Seeker

 

by Daka Hermon

Last year, Justin's friend Zee disappeared, right around the same time Justin's mom passed away. Now he lives with his big sister, and is dealing with the fact that Zee is back, but not the same. There's something deeply troubling about him, but everyone says to just give him time. When Zee's mom has a get-together at her house, she invites the neighborhood kids, and hopes that it will help Zee. But all he does is start screaming random rhymes at them, some of which seem like threats, and some like warnings. The next day, one of the neighborhood girls has gone missing, and even stranger things begin happening to the group of friends. Could the disappearances have something to do with their casual game of Hide and Seek? And could Justin be the next to disappear?

I loved this truly creepy tale that takes an innocent kids' game and turns it on its head. The author isn't afraid to go to dark places, while keeping it safely in the realm of middle grade. The characters are relatable, and the plot moves quickly. I will definitely keep this in mind to recommend to lots of kids, and it would make a great read aloud!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

by J. K. Rowling

Forgot how much I like this one. Even better than the first! I'm really enjoying re-reading these with my son, and he's loving them, too!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

by J. K. Rowling

Just re-read this for the first time since around 1999. Just as awesome as I remembered!

Small Spaces

by Katherine Arden

Truly creepy/scary books are not easy to come by at the middle grade level, but this one definitely gets there. Ollie has just lost her mom--it's just her, her dad, and her books now. She loves books, so when she sees a woman about to throw one into the river, she knows she has to rescue it. The woman is straight up distraught the Ollie has her book, but she's not giving it back. She starts to read it, but hasn't finished it before her class field trip to a farm goes downhill really quickly. Is the book connected to what's happening to Ollie's classmates, and can she save them from a truly bizarre fate?

The Fade

by Demitria Lunetta

Haley's family has moved from Chicago to rural Wisconsin, into a creepy old house with a sordid past. She immediately begins to feel a presence there, and soon learns that several years ago, a whole bunch of pretty girls went missing from her house and some of the surrounding homes. She knows they want something, but can't figure out what, and soon enlists the help of Coop, a cute local boy she meets at a party.

The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly

by Rebecca K. S. Ansari

In this beautifully inventive debut, Charlie O’Reilly has lost his little brother. He wished him away the night before his birthday, and now he is missing. The worst part is that no one, including his parents, believe Liam ever existed. Every trace of Liam is gone, and Charlie’s insistence that he was real has driven his mother into a deep depression. His only solace is his friend Ana, who vows to help him find Liam, even though she can’t remember him either. When Charlie finds a note in his room suggesting they talk to Jonathan, his new assistant baseball coach, they discover there might be hope to save Liam after all. However, the quest won’t be without risks, and they may have to give up more than they expected to find him. Readers will bite their nails and cheer for Charlie and his friends every step of the way. A sympathetic villain adds depth and complexity to the story, and plot turns abound, both delightful and heartbreaking.

The Dogs

by Allan Stratton

Cameron's mom lives in fear that her ex-husband will find them someday and cause them harm. Cameron was so young when they got divorced that he wonders if his mom is over-exaggerating his father's potential for violence. He's not allowed to see him or talk to him, and the older he gets, the more Cameron resents his mom, and the situation. After weeks of seeing a car parked in front of their home, she decides they need to move. Again. She rents an old farm house in the middle of nowhere. Their landlord is the creepy old man who lives one farm over. And then, Cameron begins to see the boy whenever he closes his eyes. Who is this boy in the coonskin cap, and what does he want with Cameron?

I absolutely loved this quiet little thriller! A middle grade mystery with a believable premise, some actual scary moments, and characters readers can connect with? Yes, please!

Long Way Down

by Jason Reynolds

Will's brother Shawn has just been murdered. He thinks he knows who did it, so he gets his own gun, steels himself to do what needs to be done (revenge is the rule in his neighborhood), and gets on an elevator. As the car goes down, he's joined by people he once knew. When they were alive. Each visitor clues him in to something he didn't know about his family, his neighborhood, himself.

I'm late to the Jason Reynolds party. I know, I know. And now I know what all the hype is about. Beautifully written text and a compelling story with a timely message. What's not to love?

I listened to this on Overdrive, and Mr. Reynolds himself provides the narration. He has a beautiful voice--I highly recommend the audio version.

Darkdeep

by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs

I was able to get an advanced copy of this book--it doesn't even have a real cover yet! Early buzz is calling this Goonies meets Stranger Things, and that's a pretty good description, as those shows are clearly part of the story's inspiration. However, Darkdeep is original enough to nod to those children of the 80's and still maintain its own original storyline. A la Goonies, there's a bully who kicks off the chain of events. Mean dude Logan intentionally crashes Nico's drone off the edge of a cliff into Still Cove, a notoriously spooky place. When Nico goes after it, he stumbles upon a weird abandoned houseboat, with a swirling, dark pool of water below deck. The kids soon realize that the pool has secret--one that could destroy their entire town if they can't figure out how to stop it.

You guys will LOVE the nonstop action. The cliffhanger ending will absolutely drive readers crazy as they wait for the next installment.

Elizabeth and Zenobia

by Jessica Miller

Elizabeth is sort of a sad little girl. No mom, and a dad who seems to care more about his career than his only daughter. She does have a friend, Zenobia, but unfortunately no one else seems to be able to see her. When Elizabeth's father moves them to Witheringe House, his childhood home, Zenobia is fascinated by its history, and wants to explore places that are forbidden, hold seances, and basically get Elizabeth into trouble.

I agree with other reviewers who advise to skip reading the description of this book. Part of the fun for me was finding out what mystery the east wing held. If you read the intro, unfortunately you basically already know.

I enjoyed the sassy Zenobia character, and the little mystery from Elizabeth's father's past.

The White Tower

by Cathryn Constable

Livy Burgess's best friend Mahalia has just lost her battle with leukemia. Livy is reeling with grief, but her parents decide it might be good for her to take an opportunity for free tuition at the prestigious Temple College, a preparatory school in London. Livy's dad is offered a job as the new librarian there, and it's a chance the family can't pass up. The action starts immediately when, after the move, Livy and her mom encounter the eccentric ex-librarian at Temple, who appears to be homeless and quickly losing his marbles. Also, the stern and intimidating headmistress seems to have an agenda; she's very interested in a possible connection the Burgess family may have to the founder of Temple College, scientist Peter Burgess. Livy senses something's not quite right at her new school, and when she meets an intriguing boy on the roof, even more questions are raised. She's determined to figure out what's going on, even if she has to risk her own life to do it. Livy's love for her departed friend, and her struggle to make new ones and find her place in the world, will resonate with readers. Minor characters are underdeveloped, with the exception of Livy's lively four-year-old brother Tom, and there are a few aimless plot points. The twist at the end is a shocker, though, and the resolution satisfies.

The Empty Grave

by Jonathan Stroud

With a deep sigh, I say good bye to this amazing series. Stroud kept the quality of all five books consistently engaging, which is no easy task. Every book in this series has one major mystery the crew needs to solve. This one, in addition to that, manages to also wrap up the biggest mystery of all. That's right. We get to find out what started the Problem. And it's no lame cop-out of an ending, either. A fantastic conclusion to one of my favorite book series of all time.


Lucy, Lockwood, George, Holly, and last but not least, Skull...a sad farewell!