A Tale Dark and Grimm

by Adam Gidwitz
Most everyone has heard the story of Hansel and Gretel.  You know, the one where they walk into the forest away from their evil parents, try to eat a witch's house, and narrowly avoid her oven.  Well, that's really only part of the story, and it's not even the beginning.  In this dark and grim tale, we follow Hansel and Gretel on all their adventures - from being born to the well-meaning king and queen to outsmarting the devil to meeting the moon (who likes to eat children) to coming eye to golden eye with a giant dragon (who also likes to eat children).  This isn't the Hansel and Gretel story you heard as a little kid, and it's not for the feint of heart.

Recommended for grades 4-8
Reviewed by Sara Murray

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Ridiculous but entertaining, or maybe ridiculously entertaining, this book certainly is what the title claims it to be. For those of you who are not satisfied with the "Happily Ever After," sappy sweet, and pretty princess endings, this is the tale for you. Blood and gore pour through the pages of this retelling of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale. As if the original was not gruesome enough - you remember, someone gets baked in an oven - this version gets mixed up with other Grimm tales to include beheadings, dismemberments, humans being hunted, and a trip to hell itself. How can so many terrible things happen to two innocent children? Read this and find out.

Recommended for grades 3-6
Reviewed by Koren Power

Three Quarters Dead

by Richard Peck
Fifteen-year-old Kerry is an insecure high school sophomore who idolizes three beautiful, popular senior girls - who rule the school. She is stunned when, out of the blue, she is chosen to be the fourth member of their clique. Kerry turns a blind eye toward ringleader Tanya's nasty comments and cruel treatment toward other students. She even ignores the unkind, manipulative behavior directed toward her. She is convinced she must keep silent, or become a "nobody" again. Then a tragic accident turns her world upside down and causes a bizarre, supernatural turn of events where Kerry, steeped in grief, begins to question her sanity. Is what is occurring real? And if so, will Kerry still do anything to maintain her connection with Tanya, Natalie, and Makenzie? Even cross the threshold between life and death? Newbery Award winner Richard Peck creates a spooky, suspenseful thriller that will leave the reader pulling for Kerry as she struggles with the desire to belong, and the courage of her convictions.

Recommended for grades 6-12
Reviewed by Rozanne Porter

Closed for the Season

by Mary Downing Hahn
Thirteen-year-old Logan Forbes is not having a good summer. His father has landed a job as an art teacher in the small town of Bealesville, and his family has just moved nearby. The old home they bought is in terrible shape after being uninhabited for a number of years. In addition, Logan is worried about making friends and fitting in with his new middle school. His next door neighbor, Arthur Jenkins, a quirky, opinionated twelve-year-old offers his friendship to Logan. Arthur and his spunky grandmother seem to know everything about the people and events of Bealesville. Almost immediately, Arthur drops a frightening bit of information on Logan and his family. Apparently, the home they just moved into is known as the "murder home" of Bealesville. It seems that the former owner of the house, a sweet old woman named Myrtle Donaldson, was killed during an apparent robbery gone bad. However,it remains a mystery as to who murdered her. Even more of a puzzle is what became of the money she supposedly embezzeled from a popular local amusement park named Magic Forest. Myrtle was the head cashier at the now closed park, and until the day she died she proclaimed her innocence. Arthur and Logan's curiosity about solving this crime take them on a quest to find the missing money, which they are convinced is hiding among the ruins of the broken down, long-closed amusement park. To their shock, a wealthy, popular family in the community has just purchased Magic Forest, and wishes to tear it down immediately. They have been warned by numerous adults to stop playing detective and stay away from the condemned property. Will Logan and Arthur discover the hidden treasure and clear the name of Mrs. Donaldson before the killer stops them? Mary Downing Hahn has once again written a thrilling mystery that will appeal to those who enjoy solving a crime, while also rooting for the kids to outwit the grown-ups.

Recommended for grades 5-8
Reviewed by Rozanne Porter

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall

by Mary Downing Hahn
Twelve-year-old Florence Crutchfield can't believe it. After seven years at Miss Medleycoate's Home for Orphan Girls her great uncle has found her and wants her to come live with him at Crutchfield Hall. Florence is excited to be leaving the joyless orphanage where she was always hungry but she is nervous about leaving London and living with a man she's never met. Making her even more anxious is the knowledge that she will also be living with a cousin she didn't know she had, a boy named James. Unfortunately Florence's arrival at Crutchfield Hall does not put her mind at ease. Her Aunt Eugenie, who also lives at the manor, takes an instant dislike to Florence and wants her sent away. Then she learns that James is sickly and isn't allowed visitors. But the element that is most distressing to Florence is the eerie sensation that whatever she does and wherever she goes she is being watched. And it turns out that she is. The ghost of James's sister Sophia, who died suddenly less than a year earlier, follows Florence through the halls as an icy presence, teasing her, laughing at her, and eventually revealing just how sinister a spirit she is. Although no one believes her, Florence knows that Sophia is not truly gone. She is very real and she intends on making James pay for her death with his life. Florence must try her hardest to overcome the malevolent influence of Sophia if she is going to save her cousin in this chilling tale perfect for a dark and stormy night.

Recommended for grades 5-8
Reviewed by Tara Olson

Dial-A-Ghost

by Eve Ibbotson
Oliver Smith who has lived most of his ten years in an orphanage inherits his family's mansion, Helton Hall. But his greedy cousins, Fulton and Frieda Snodde-Brittles want Helton Hall for themselves, and they will inherit it if something happens to Oliver. The Snodde-Brittles decide to try to rid themselves of Oliver. They go to the Dial-a-Ghost agency and rent some ghosts who will scare Oliver to death. They then leave Oliver alone in the large mansion, to meet his fate with the gruesome ghosts. But a clerical error is made and the ghosts that come to Helton Hall are the lovely, kind Wilkinsons, who became ghosts when their home was bombed during WWII. The bloodthirsty ghosts, the Shriekers, end up at a quiet convent. This mishap leads to some interesting developments.

Recommended for grades 4-7
Reviewed by Alice Woertendyke

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman
For those ghost lovers and Harry Potter fans, this spooky and suspenseful novel is based on Rudyard Kipling’s classic, The Jungle Book. The story begins in a frightening way, as a family is killed by a menacing stranger named Jack. However, the youngest child of the family, a toddler, fortuitously escapes the fate of the rest of his family by literally toddling out the front door while Jack is in another room. He crawls to a nearby graveyard, and gets discovered by two long-time inhabitants of the cemetery. Not knowing his true identity, the orphaned boy is renamed Nobody - Bod for short. Over the years, he is lovingly raised by the kind, eccentric ghosts in the cemetery until the day comes where he must return to "his own kind." In the meantime, Bod, whose life skills are suited more toward the dead than the living, must learn to go to school with his peers and learn things that only the living can teach. But there is great danger in taking this step. Surprisingly, Jack has not forgotten about him over time. He is still looking for Bod. He came to do a job that tragic evening long ago, and it has yet to be completed. He needs to finish what he started. Why does Jack need to destroy Bod? Can Bod's ghostly family protect him from the cruel world by continuing to isolate him? Will Bod ever have a home other than the cemetery? Gaiman writes a suspenseful yarn, at times funny, other times touching, that will leave readers wanting to turn the pages to find out who Jack is, as well as what becomes of Bod and his ethereal family.

Winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal

Recommended for grades 5 and up
Reviewed by Rozanne Porter

Wait Till Helen Comes

by Mary Downing Hahn
Molly and Michael just can't get along with their new step-sister Heather. Heather's a brat who's always trying to get them in trouble no matter how nice they are to her.  Things get worse when they move to a church in the country, because in their backyard is a graveyard and in the graveyard is a mysterious grave with Heather's initials on it.  Soon Heather is being even brattier than usual and warning Michael and Molly that they better "wait 'til Helen comes" because then they'll be sorry.  Only Molly believes that Heather is seeing a ghost named Helen and is in danger of being possessed.  Is there really a ghost? Can Molly convince her family in time?  Will she be able to save Heather?  Does she even want to save the brat?  Curl up with this spine-tingler to find out!

Recommended for grades 4-8
Reviewed by Jennifer Baker

Creepers

by Joanne Dahme
When Courtney and her parents move to a historical farm house in the small town of Murmer, Massachussetts, they expect life to be peaceful and sweet.  However, strange things start to happen.  Courtney and her parents are constantly cutting back the ivy that threatens to cover their house, and Courtney could swear there wasn't so much ivy carved in the walls of the basment last time she was down there.  Walking through the cemetary she can see from her bedroom window, Courtney meets and befriends Margaret and Christian Geyer, a strange father and daughter who seem obsessed with one cemetary occupant in particular - an old ancestor named Prudence, who lived with her father in Courtney's house hundreds of years ago.  According to legend, when Prudence died, her father carved her headstone with ivy and made a pact with a witch to have their souls united when he died.  But Prudence's body is not in the cemetary, and Margaret and Christian must find her in order to release the spell and find peace for Prudence and her father.

Recommended for grades 4-8
Reviewed by Sara Murray

Revenge of the Witch

The Last Apprentice; Book 1
by Joseph Delaney
Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son which means two things; he will have to leave his home at age 13 in order to make a living for himself and he also has "the gift". Unfortunately for Tom these two things make him a perfect candidate to apprentice with the local Spook, a man whose job it is to rid the county of ghosts, witches, boggarts and other evil beings. Not the trade Tom had hoped to be learning. His new master, Old Gregory, is a weathered loner who has been successfully ridding the county of all manner of ghosts and witches for as long as Tom can remember. Tom has a lot to learn and not much time to learn it but before long the Spook has trusted Tom to handle one of the most evil witches of all time, Mother Malkin. Has he learned enough to save himself and his family from her wicked ways? The first in The Last Apprentice series, this book is not to be read at night and not when you are alone!

Recommended for grades 6 and up
Reviewed by Tara Olson

Coraline

by Neil Gaiman
adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell
Coraline Jones and her parents just moved into a very old house, and Coraline is bored.  Her parents are too busy to pay any attention to her, and her neighbors, who are strange to say the least, give her weird advice and strange warnings.  While exploring, Coraline comes across a door in the sitting room.  When she opens it, sometimes she sees a brick wall, but sometimes she sees "the other world," a world much like her own in design, but better and more exciting.  However, she also finds she has an "other" mother and father, creepy people with button eyes who would love to keep Coraline as their own child and entertain her and pay attention to her like she wished her real parents would do.  When the "other" mother kidnaps her parents and locks Coraline into the "other" world, Coraline must play the ultimate game to save herself and her parents and return home.

The graphic novel adaptation of the novel is equal parts creepy and entertaining.  The vibrant illustrations make you feel as if you too have walked through the door in the sitting room.  If you're looking for a scary story, pick up either the book or this graphic novel adaptation... and then be happy you only have one mother.

Recommended for gardes 5-10
Reviewed by Sara Murray

All the Lovely Bad Ones: A Ghost Story

by Mary Downing Hahn
Thirteen-year-old Travis and his twelve-year-old sister Corey are good-natured troublemakers. Every summer they play pranks at the summer camp their parents send them. This year, they are happy to learn that they will be spending their summer in Vermont with their grandmother, who just purchased an old country inn. When they learn that the hotel has been very quiet but is rumored to be haunted, they decide to have fun with the tourists by "haunting" the inn themselves. What begins as a quiet, restful, summer quickly turns into a nightmare for Travis, Corey, and all of the guests, for their shenanigans have unintentionally awakened "all the lovely bad ones." These frightening, mischievous ghosts want something from Travis and Corey, and they won’t go back to sleep until they get what they want. For those looking for a creepy summer ghost story, this is sure to tickle your spine!

Recommended for grades 5-8
Reviewed by Rozanne Porter

Seer of Shadows

by Avi
For those who are fans of ghost stories, historical fiction, or both, the latest book by Newbery Award winner Avi will sure to be a hit. The time is 1872. The place is New York City. Fourteen year old Horace Carpetine is excited to begin an apprenticeship in photography with Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer. Because Horace has been raised to believe in science and rationality, it comes as a shock when a photograph taken of Mrs. Frederick Von Macht, one of Carpetine's customers, shows the image of the woman's dead daughter, a thirteen-year-old girl named Eleanora. While both the woman and Horace are horrified by what they see, Mr. Middleditch, decides to take advantage of the situation by discussing the popularity of "spirit photography" – where dead relatives supposedly appear with the living in pictures. Furthermore, he hopes his new client will supply him with lots of business, and eventual fame and fortune. Meanwhile, Pegg, the Von Macht's servant girl, befriends Horace and tells him the appalling truth regarding who Eleanora really was and how she actually died. Most shocking of all, as Horace takes more photographs, he realizes that he has somehow summoned not only a ghostly image, but a very angry apparition who is intent on getting revenge on the people who caused her tragic death! The mystery behind Eleanora's death, as well as Horace and Pegg's attempts to stop her from causing even more heartbreak, will cause readers to want to find out how this spooky novel ends.

Recommended for grades 5-8
Reviewed by Rozanne Porter