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TEN-WORD TINY TALES TO INSPIRE AND UNSETTLE written by Joseph Coelho & illustrated by 21 Artist Friends Candlewick Press, 2023 ISBN: 978-1-5362-3135-9 Source: publisher for review Ages 10 and up All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK UK Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho presents twenty tiny tales—each one illustrated by a different artist, and each just ten words long—in a book that’s as much a work of art as an invitation to budding writers. “Invite me in,” she says, outside my tenth-story window. Is it possible to spin a tale using just ten words? In this magnificent compendium, author and poet Joseph Coelho proves that it is—with mini-stories of underwater worlds, demon hamsters, bears in outer space, and portals to places unknown. From charming to creepy, fantastical to mysterious, each tale is paired with an outstanding illustrator, and together words and pictures inspire creativity as ...

  GRAVE MISTAKES The Dade Family #1 by Kitty Curran Melissa de la Cruz Studio, 2023 ISBN: 978-1-368-08347-8 Source: eARC from publisher through Netgalley. Ages 9-12 Middle Grade Fantasy/Speculative Fiction All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Grave Mistakes  presents readers with a most unusual family. Molly, her father, and brother, Timothy, all remain human after the accident that killed her mother and brother, Marty. But Molly's mother has returned as a ghost who can't be seen, but can be heard by anyone. Marty on the other hand has come back as a poltergeist, a ghost who can touch and move things. And the family has adopted a young girl who returned to life as a zombie. All of these changes creates awkwardness between Molly and her best friend, Grace. Molly's family encouraged her to tell Grace about the changes in their family, but Molly has yet to do so, creating a great deal of uncertainty and frustr...

THE CURSED MOON by Angela Cervantes Scholastic Press, 2023 ISBN:   9781338814019 Source: publisher through NetGalley Ages 9-12 Middle grade horror All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Rafael Fuentes discovers he will be attending summer school just as he's getting ready for his mother to be released from jail.  He dreads both things. But he loves writing and telling scary stories. Even after he's warned by a neighbor to avoid telling scary stories during the blood moon, Rafa can't resist telling one after an argument with his grandparents about his mother, whom he refuses to forgive for the neglect he and his sister experienced. But it quickly becomes clear that the warning Rafa received was all too real and now elements of the stories he told are coming to life threatening his sister and his friends. Rafa teams up with his school nemesis who is also being haunted to try to figure out what's going on an...

THE GIRL IN WHITE written by Lindsay Currie Sourcebooks Young Readers, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-7282-3654-4 Source: ARC for review from publisher Ages 9-12 Middle grade horror/fantasy All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW The setting of The Girl in White jumped out at me from the very beginning.  When Mallory moved to Eastport with her family, she wasn't expecting to find a town obsessed with the macabre. For her, it feels like Halloween all year long.  The old sea fishing village turned tourist magnet uses stories and legends related to its past to attract visitors. Parades and creepy decorations dominate the month of October. Even her parents restaurant serves dishes focused on some of the scary legends her mother loves to tell to the customers. The town itself feels like a character in the story.  Mallory isn't thrilled about her new home; she didn't want to leave her friends and home in Chicago, especially for...

GALLOWGATE written by K.R. Alexander Scholastic Press, 2023 ISBN:9781338806489 Source: eARC from publisher through NetGalley Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Sebastian Wight sees ghosts.  He's seen ghosts since he saw his parents died at 5-years-old. His peculiar talent makes him the target of taunting at the hands of his classmates. It's also meant a lack of friends. Only his aunt makes life bearable for Sebastian. Starting at a new school cracks open the door to making friends, but when a particularly nasty ghost starts haunting Sebastian, all hope for friends and a regular life flies out the window. After a devastating attack that Sebastian and his aunt barely manage to fight off, Sebastian is sent to the one place his aunt thinks he might be safe. Gallowgate turns out to be a supernatural school where students learn to use their magical skills to fight nasty ghosts. While Sebasti...

SCARY STORIES FOR YOUNG FOXES by Christian Heidicker Henry Holt and Company, 2019 ISBN: 978-1-250-18142-8 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK The haunted season has arrived in the Antler Wood. No fox kit is safe. When Mia and Uly are separated from their litters, they discover a dangerous world full of monsters. In order to find a den to call home, they must venture through field and forest, facing unspeakable things that dwell in the darkness: a zombie who hungers for their flesh, a witch who tries to steal their skins, a ghost who hunts them through the snow . . . and other things too scary to mention. Featuring eight interconnected stories and sixteen illustrations. REVIEW I'll admit, I've never read a book quite like this one. It's truly unique.   Seven young fox kits sneak out to visit the storyteller in Bog Cavern.  They believe they are ready for the tales she has to tell.  Each of the sev...

DEAD VOICES by Katherine Arden G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019 ISBN: 978-0-525-51505-0 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 Middle grade speculative/scary/horror All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort. But when a snowstorm sets in, causing the power to flicker out and the cold to creep closer and closer, the three are forced to settle for hot chocolate and board games by the fire. Ollie, Coco, and Brian are determined to make the best of being snowed in, but odd things keep happening. Coco is convinced she has seen a ghost, and Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls pleading for help. Then Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, arrives in the midst of the storm to investigate the hauntings at Hemlock Lodge. ...

SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT by Derek Landy HarperCollins Children's Books, 2018 ISBN: 978-0-00-824878-9 Ages 9-12 Middle grade speculative/fantasy/horror Source: publisher for review All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK She’s twelve. He’s dead. But together they’re going to save the world. Hopefully. The iconic first book in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series. Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead sorcerer… REVIEW With a new book in the series coming out, the Skulduggery Pleasant series is being reprinted with new covers.  Not having read the series when it first came out, I was interested in reading it this time.  And I was not disappointed.  In fact if anything, I was plea...

SPIRIT HUNTERS by Ellen Oh Harper, 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-243008-3 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 Middle grade speculative (fantasy/horror) All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK We Need Diverse Books founder Ellen Oh returns with Spirit Hunters , a high-stakes middle grade mystery series about Harper Raine, the new seventh grader in town who must face down the dangerous ghosts haunting her younger brother. A riveting ghost story and captivating adventure, this tale will have you guessing at every turn! Harper doesn’t trust her new home from the moment she steps inside, and the rumors are that the Raine family’s new house is haunted. Harper isn’t sure she believes those rumors, until her younger brother, Michael, starts acting strangely. The whole atmosphere gives Harper a sense of déjà vu, but she can’t remember why. She knows that the memories she’s blocking will help make sense of her brother’s behavior and the strange and threatening sensa...

CAMP SO-AND-SO by Mary McCoy Carolrhoda LAB, 2017 ISBN: 978-1-5124-1597-1 Middle Grade Speculative (Horror) Ages 12 and up Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK The letters went out in mid-February. Each letter invited its recipient to spend a week at Camp So-and-So, a lakeside retreat for girls nestled high in the Starveling Mountains. Each letter came with a glossy brochure with photographs of young women climbing rocks, performing Shakespearean theatre under the stars, and spiking volleyballs. Each letter was signed in ink by the famed and reclusive businessman and philanthropist, Inge F. Yancey IV. By the end of the month, twenty-five applications had been completed, signed, and mailed to a post office box in an obscure Appalachian town. Had any of these girls tried to follow the directions in the brochure and visit the camp for themselves on that day in February, they would have discovered that there was no such town and ...

GUYS READ: TERRIFYING TALES edited by Jon Scieszka Walden Pond Press, 2015 ISBN13: 9780062385581 Middle grade horror (speculative/fantasy) Ages 10-14 Source: school library All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Be afraid, be very afraid of  Terrifying Tales , the sixth volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading. Eleven masters of suspense—Kelly Barnhill, Michael Buckley, Adam Gidwitz, Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown, Claire Legrand, Nikki Loftin, Daniel José Older, Dav Pilkey, R.L. Stine, and Rita Williams-Garcia—have come together to bring you a bone-chilling collection of original ghost stories with illustrations by Gris Grimly, perfect for sharing around the campfire, reading under the covers with a flashlight, and scaring your friends’ pants off. Compiled and edited by kid-lit madman Jon Scieszka,  Guys Read: Terrifying Tales  is a creepy-fun read (if you’re brave enough, that is).  REVIEW This book reminds me why I'm ...

THE GATHERING Shadow House #1 by Dan Poblocki Scholastic, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-545-92550-1 Middle Grade Fantasy/Horror Ages 9-12 Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK You don't just read this ghost story. You step into it. Some houses are more than just haunted... they're hungry. Dash, Dylan, Poppy, Marcus, and Azumi don't know this at first. They each think they've been summoned to Shadow House for innocent reasons. But there's nothing innocent about Shadow House. Something within its walls is wickedly wrong.  Nothing -- and nobody -- can be trusted. Hallways move. Doors vanish. Ghosts appear. Children disappear. And the way out? That's disappeared, too... Enter Shadow House... if you dare. Don't just read about Shadow House -- explore its haunted depths with the free app! REVIEW Scholastic has started another two part book series with this first horror book by Dan Poblocki.  Admittedly, ...

THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE Lockwood & Co. #1 by Jonathan Stroud Disney Hyperion Books, 2013 ISBN: 978-142316491-3 Middle Grade Fantasy Grades 5 and up Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . . For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions. Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive. Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Sc...

ZOMBIE KID Case File 13 Volume 1 by J. Scott Savage HarperCollins, 2012 ISBN: 780062133250 Middle Grade Fantasy Reviewed from purchased copy.  ABOUT THE BOOK You hold in your hands a very dangerous record. I have collected every side of the story and every piece of evidence on case number 13. Now, in this file, you will find all you need to follow the dark adventures of Nick, Carter, and Angelo, three boys who possess an unhealthy obsession with monsters, in a town so grisly, so horrific— Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're telling it all wrong, dude. You make it sound like it's a scary story. Ahem. Well, Nick, it is a scary story. In this volume alone, there are voodoo queens, graveyards—even the dreaded Zombie King himself. Yeah, but there's also the part where Angie gets mashed potatoes all in her face, and the part where I use my cool zombie powers to— All right, point taken. Now, if you don't mind . . . You hold in your hands a very dangerous, very funny re...

GRAVEDIGGERS: Mountain of Bones by Christopher Krovatin Katherine Tegan Books, 2012 ISBN: 978-0-06-207740-0 Middle Grade Horror Grades 4-8 Reviewed from purchased copy. ABOUT THE BOOK Ian was the one who chased the majestic buck into the forest. Kendra and PJ followed him. They all hoped to return to the hiking trail before anyone noticed they were gone. However, the mountain had other plans for them: dark, sinister plans that only nightmares are made of. The Goonies meets The Evil Dead in this series about three kids who become separated from their backpacking group in the Montana wilderness and discover they are stranded in the heart of zombie country. Ian was the one who chased the majestic buck into the forest. (His motto: Act first, think later.) Kendra didn't want to become separated from the other sixth graders, but she followed Ian anyway, despite what her analytical mind told her. PJ followed him, too. Even though he was scared, he figured he might catc...