Tag: Middle grade

CREEPY KID – Caleb Roehrig

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Twelve-year-old Edgar Alden, also known as “Poe,” has always been an outcast. Obsessed with the macabre, he’s never remotely hit it off with other kids. Only Grandma ever really understood his love for the supernatural, but when she dies and his parents move into a dilapidated house on the other side of town, things for Poe quickly go from bad to worse.

You see, Poe has a roommate. A dead one. A 12-year-old ghost named Violet, who’s been stuck haunting Poe’s room for longer than she can remember. Violet is territorial, kind of annoying, and tethered to the human world by her doll, Baby Jessica.

But Poe quickly discovers that Violet isn’t the only spirit haunting his house. There’s a vengeful, violent entity in his basement. And it’s up to Poe to find a way to help them both cross to the other side.
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THE CREEPS – Tehlor Mejia

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Dylan has a bad feeling about the Good Night Motel. Ever since he and his mom got kicked out of their apartment, their new living arrangements have given him a serious case of the creeps. The roof is sagging; the wallpaper is peeling. The weird twin owners have painted-on smiles like Victorian dolls, and the handyman always seems to be lurking. 

And, of course, there are the Rules. Break three, and you’re out for good. 

Dylan couldn’t care less until he’s cornered by a kid who claims to know the truth about this place. The real truth. You see, when people break the rules, they don’t just get kicked out of the motel. They disappear.

And Dylan and his mom could be next.
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NIGHT OF THE LIVING HEAD – Hanna Alkaf

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Twelve-year-old Alia has always had the worst luck. Whether it’s her parents moving her all the way from Kuala Lumpur to a tiny village, or her shoes constantly coming untied, Alia can’t help but feel as if the universe has it out for her. 

To top it all off, her estranged older sister, Ayu, has just re-appeared in their lives after years away. Alia’s parents are delighted, but Alia is not so sure. She remembers the fights, the tears, the pain her sister caused, and knows this is just another case of bad luck following her around. 

Then Alia’s school fills with rumors of a horrifying creature spotted flying in the night sky. And Alia realizes that perhaps it’s not just her bad luck this time—but something more sinister is lying just under the surface of her town…and it’s up to Alia to put an end to it for once and for all.
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FIELD OF SCREAMS – Wendy Parris

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Paranormal enthusiast Rebecca Graff isn’t happy about being dragged to Iowa to spend the summer with family she barely knows. But when she tracks a ghostly presence to an abandoned farmhouse, she starts to think the summer won’t be a total lost cause!

The trouble is no one believes her. Then Rebecca finds a note stashed in a comic belonging to her late father—a note that proves the same spirit haunted him when he was twelve. Suddenly she feels a connection to the dad she pretends not to miss, and she is determined to uncover the story behind the haunting.

But the more Rebecca discovers, the scarier the ghost becomes. Soon she is in a race to piece together the puzzle and recover a family legacy before it is lost forever and a horrible tragedy repeats itself.
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THE FIREFLY SUMMER – Morgan Matson

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For as long as Ryanna Stuart can remember, her summers have been spent with her father and his new wife. Just the three of them, structured, planned, and quiet. But this summer is different. This summer, she’s received a letter from her grandparents—grandparents neither she nor her dad have spoken to since her mom’s death—inviting her to stay with them at an old summer camp in the Poconos.

Ryanna accepts. She wants to learn about her mom. She wants to uncover the mystery of why her father hasn’t spoken to her grandparents all these years. She’s even looking forward to a quiet summer by the lake. But what she finds are relatives…so many relatives! Aunts and uncles and cousins upon cousins—a motley, rambunctious crew of kids and eccentric, unconventional adults. People who have memories of her mom from when she was Ryanna’s age, clues to her past like a treasure map. Ryanna even finds an actual, real-life treasure map! 

Over the course of one unforgettable summer—filled with s’mores and swimming, adventure and fun, and even a decades-old mystery to solve—Ryanna discovers a whole new side of herself and that, sometimes, the last place you expected to be is the place where you really belong.
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THE VANQUISHERS – Kalynn Bayron

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Malika “Boog” Wilson and her best friends have grown up idolizing The Vanquishers, a group of heroic vampire hunters who wiped out the last horde of the undead decades ago. Nowadays, most people don’t take even the most basic vampire precautions–the days of garlic wreaths and early curfews long gone–but Boog’s parents still follow the old rules, much to her embarrassment. 

When a friend goes missing, Boog isn’t sure what to think. Could it be the school counselor, Mr. Rupert, who definitely seems to be hiding something? Or could it be something more dangerous? Boog is determined to save her friend, but is she ready to admit vampires might not be vanquished after all?

No one ever expected the Vanquishers to return, but if their town needs protection from the undead, Boog knows who to call.
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LOST ON DOLL ISLAND – Cassandra Ramos-Gomez

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Diego feels trapped. He’s confined in an arm cast, stuck with his tía and tío for a week in Mexico City, and smothered with the sickening fear that he’s the one who really caused his parents’ divorce. But most of all, he’s trapped in his own secret. Because ever since he got to Mexico City, he’s started having strange dreams of a doll calling his name.

Then Diego learns of La Isla de Muñecas, an island full of legendary magic that can make children’s wishes come true. If Diego can harness the power there, maybe he could fix everything that has gone wrong in his life. 

So, with the help of two new friends, Diego takes a boat to the legendary island. From the moment the kids step ashore, nothing is as it seems—with dolls disappearing and reappearing in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, Diego is more trapped than ever before, and as the night goes on, he’s not sure he can escape.
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SCAREWAVES – Trevor Henderson

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You don’t stay out after dark in Beacon Point…

The small town of Beacon Point has always been plagued by eerie local phenomena. It’s a town where disappearances are common, strange creatures have been sighted with unnerving frequency, and a ghastly secret lurks in the woods.
The adults in town are oblivious to these strange occurrences. Others prefer not to talk or even think about them. But over the course of several terrifying nights, a group of kids will come face to face with the horrors hiding within their sleepy town. Guided by the mysterious radio host Alan Graves, they must follow the clues to a terrifying secret before it eats them alive
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THE WITCHES OF WILLOW COVE – Josh Roberts

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It’s not easy being a teenage witch. Seventh grader Abby Shepherd is just getting the hang of it when weird stuff starts happening all around her hometown of Willow Cove. Green slime bubbling to life in science class. Giant snakes slithering around the middle school gym. Her best friend suddenly keeping secrets and telling lies.

Things only begin to make sense when a stranger named Miss Winters reveals that Abby isn’t the only young witch in town—and that Willow Cove is home to a secret past that connects them all. Miss Winters, herself a witch, even offers to teach Abby and the others everything she knows about witchcraft.

But as Abby learns more about Miss Winters’ past, she begins to suspect her new mentor is keeping secrets of her own. Can Abby trust her, or does Miss Winters have something wicked planned for the young witches of Willow Cove?
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THE LONELIEST PLACE – Lora Senf

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As summer comes to an end, Evie Von Rathe is determined to begin the search for her parents in earnest. Armed with her knowledge of the otherworldly, her mom’s violet glasses, and a pendant full of doors, Evie begins to piece together clues. When she realizes her mother’s bedtime story might be a roadmap to finding them, Evie follows it back to the Dark Sun Side.

But stories are funny things, and they change from one teller to the next.

The black nothing of the Radix is waiting, and it knows more than it’s ever let on. Evie will need every bit of courage she has for what’s coming. With Bird at her side, and maybe even a reluctant Lark as well, Evie has what she hopes is her last adventure under a purple sky.
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