F SNY	Eyes in the Fishbowl (age 10+) by Zilpha Keatley Snyder fantasy ... spooky Catalog: Locked in one evening with the vast wealth of the Alcott-Simpson department store, a fourteen-year-old boy meets an unusual girl who hints about the mysterious "they" and tells him of strange goings-on in the building.
F PER	Criss Cross (age 10+) by Lynne Rae Perkins identity ... spooky Publisher comments: She wished something would happen. Something good. To her. Checking her wish for loopholes, she found one. Hoping it wasn't too late, she thought the word soon. Meanwhile, in another part of town, he felt as if the world was opening. Life was rearranging itself; bulging in places, fraying in spots. He felt himself changing, too, but into what? So much can happen in a summer.
F CRO	New World (age 10+) by Gillian Cross adventure ... spooky ... math/science/technology Fourteen-year-old Miriam agrees to test a new computer game in utmost secrecy but finds that it is more than she bargained for.
F BER	Magic by the Book (age 10+) by Nina Bernstein folklore ... adventure ... spooky ... magic Publisher comments: Neither Anne nor Emily remembered choosing the book at the library, but when as they read it, the boundary between their world and the one described in the book disappears. Suddenly they are in Sherwood Forest, where they join Robin Hood's band. They had yearned for magic as strong as the spell cast by the stories they loved best. But then an uninvited guest turns up at their parents' garden party. The sinister man snatches the book with the intention of using its powers for evil, and the siblings find themselves engaged in a battle to regain possession of the book.
F JAR	The Deptford Histories Series (age 10+) by Robin Jarvis adventure ... action ... historical ... spooky ... fantasy Publisher comments: The year is 1664 when young Will Godwin comes to London. In order to survive, he becomes an assistant to a wicked alchemist, Elias Theophratus Spittle. On an errand one freezing night, Will finds a mother cat and her three kittens, and brings the family back to his master's lab. Among the bubbling bottles and evil smelling jars of his master's apothecary shop unfolds an extraordinary tale of villainy, sorcery, and murder. title: The Alchemist's Cat
F JAR	The Deptford Mice Trilogy (age 10+) by Robin Jarvis adventure ... historical ... spooky ... fantasy Publisher comments: In the British tradition of Redwall comes this trilogy that is sure to capture fans both young and old. In the sewers of Deptford, there lurks a dark presence that fills the tunnels with fear. The rats worship it in the blackness and name it "Jupiter, Lord of All." Into this twilight realm wanders a small and frightened mouse, the unwitting trigger of a chain of events that hurtles the Deptford mice into a world of heroic adventure and terror. title: The Dark Portal title: The Crystal Prison title: The Final Reckoning
F AVI	Something Upstairs: A Tale of Ghosts (age 10+) by Avi mystery ... spooky Publisher comments: The room was shabby and dirty, heavy with heat. None of the things which Kenny called his own remained. Even the painted walls and skylight were gone. Baffled, he wondered if other things, even outside, had changed. Kenny went to one of the windows and looked down. On a stoop across the dark street a man was standing, gazing straight at Kenny's window. He was wearing what appeared to be a long black cape which reached his knees, and a hat, triangular in shape. Its brim obscured his face. As if suddenly realizing he was being observed, the man moved quickly into the shadows. Keeping his face averted, he fled up the street.
F BRU	Skeleton Man (age 10+) by Joseph Bruchac spooky ... mystery Publisher comments: Ever since the morning Molly woke up to find that her parents had vanished, her life has become filled with terrible questions. Where have her parents gone? Who is this spooky old man who's taken her to live with him, claiming to be her great-uncle? Why does he never eat, and why does he lock her in her room at night? What are her dreams of the Skeleton Man trying to tell her? There's one thing Molly does know. She needs to find some answers before it's too late. sequel: The Return of Skeleton Man
F GAI	The Graveyard Book (age 10+) by Neil Gaiman fantasy ... spooky Publisher comments: Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place; he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time, as well as their timely ghostly teachings, like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other.
F HEN	Bird Lake Moon (age 10+) by Kevin Henkes illness/loss ... family ... friendship ... spooky Publisher comments: Spencer thought the house might be haunted. Mitch knew it wasn't. And he knew why. The whole time Spencer and Mitch hung out together at Bird Lake that summer, there were secrets keeping them apart. And maybe a secret knowledge keeping them together, too...together like members of the same tribe. Like friends.
F GAI	Coraline (age 10+) by Neil Gaiman family ... fantasy ... spooky When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous. But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.
F SCH	A Drowned Maiden's Hair: a Melodrama (age 10+) by Laura Amy Schlitz spooky ... historical Maud Flynn is known at the orphanage for her impertinence. So when the charming Miss Hyacinth chooses her to take home, the girl is pleased but baffled, until it becomes clear that she's needed to help stage elaborate seances for bereaved patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing her role as a secret child, she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience --- until a shocking betrayal shows just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with fascinating details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this lively novel features a feisty heroine whom readers will not soon forget.
F PUL	Count Karlstein (age 10+) by Philip Pullman humor ... family ... adventure ... spooky In the mountains of Switzerland the wicked Count Karlstein plots to abandon his two nieces in a hunting lodge as prey for the Demon Huntsman and his ghostly hounds.
F PUL	His Dark Materials (age 10+) by Philip Pullman growing up ... spooky ... action ... adventure ... fantasy Lyra Belaqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon familiar Pantalaimon always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle ... a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armored bears. And as she hurtles toward danger in the cold, far North, young Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: She alone is destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle. title: The Golden Compass title: The Subtle Knife title: The Amber Spyglass
F O'D	The Black Pearl (age 10+) by Scott O'Dell nature ... spooky ... adventure From the depths of a cave in the Vermilion Sea, Ramon Salazar has wrested a black pearl so lustrous and captivating that his father, an expert pearl dealer, is certain Ramon has found the legendary Pearl of Heaven. Such a treasure is sure to bring great joy to the villagers of their tiny coastal town, and even greater renown to the Salazar name. No diver, not even the swaggering Gaspar Ruiz, has ever found a pearl like this! But is there a price to pay for a prize so great? When a terrible tragedy strikes the village, old Luzons warning about El Diablo returns to haunt Ramon. If El Diablo actually exists, it will take all Ramons courage to face the winged creature waiting for him offshore.
F BEL	The Mansion in the Mist (age 10+) by John Bellairs science fiction ... fantasy ... mystery ... spooky While spending the summer in an old house on a desolate Canadian island, Anthony Monday and Miss Eells discover a chest that can transport them to another world and a maniacal group who are plotting the destruction of people on Earth.
F SNY	The Egypt Game (age 10+) by Zilpha Keatley Snyder spooky ... adventure ... friendship The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they'll have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard behind the A-Z Antiques and Curio Shop, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect spot for Egypt Game. Before long there are six Egyptians instead of two. Everyone thinks it's just a game, until strange things begin happening to the players. Has the Egypt Game gone too far? sequel: The Gypsy Game
F HAM	The House of Dies Drear (age 10+) by Virginia Hamilton spooky ... historical ... mystery The house held secrets, Thomas knew, even before he first saw it looming gray and massive on its ledge of rock. It had a century-old legend - two fugitive slaves had been killed by bounty hunters after leaving its passageways, and Dies Drear himself, the abolitionist who has made the house into a station on the Underground Railroad, had been murdered there. The ghosts of the three were said to walk its rooms... sequel: The Mystery of Drear House
F FIN	Bad Dreams (age 10+) by Anne Fine spooky ... school ... friendship Despite her preference for books over friends, Melanie gradually becomes involved with a new classmate, and realizes that her her friend has a special gift that is also a burden.
F AVI	Midnight Magic (age 10+) by Avi spooky ... knights/castles/dragons ... fantasy ... magic On a stormy night in the Kingdom of Pergamontio, an insistent knocking brings Fabrizio, the servant boy, to the door. Outside stands a soldier summoning Fabrizio's master, Mangus the Magician, to the king's castle. Because Mangus has been under house arrest for confessing to be a magician, he cannot imagine why the king is calling for him. But magic is exactly what the king needs. He wants Mangus to free his daughter from the torment of a terrifying ghost. Mangus' life will depend on his success.

Addison Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:25 2012 Other themes and genres