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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.
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HAU
A Haunt of Ghosts (age 10+)
by Hau
short stories ... spooky
A collection of ten chilling ghost stories.
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LUB
Kidzilla and Other Tales (age 10+)
by David Lubar
spooky ... short stories ... science fiction
Publisher comments: Don't bother looking for PsychoZone on a Map. It's not a place...but a state of mind where the worlds of reality and imagination collide. A place where a kid can wake up and have morphed into a giant lizard. Or where one can place a long distance phone call...to the future. Or where the monsters of your worst nightmares come alive, and where car trips that are sooo boring you think they'll last forever... In the PsychoZone.
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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.
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IBB
The Beasts of Clawstone Castle (age 10+)
by Eva Ibbotson
humor ... spooky ... mystery
When their parents go to America, Madlyn and Rollo are sent to their relatives at Clawstone Castle, home of the legendary Wild White Cattle of Clawstone Park. Times are hard at Clawstone, so Madlyn and Rollo audition a cast of ghosts to add some thrills to the Clawstone tours. Then a very real mystery arises.
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AHL
The Improbable Cat (age 10+)
by Allan Ahlberg
animals ... spooky
It all begins when David's family takes in a stray kitten. At least that's what the creature appears to be. But David and his faithful dog, Billy, immediately sense something terribly amiss. Then indeed "something crazy--impossible--horrific" happens. . . .
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CON
Stonewords: a Ghost Story (age 10+)
by Pam Conrad
mystery ... spooky
The first time Zoe met Zoe Louise, Zoe was four years old. Zoe Louise was more than 100. From that day on, living in the same house, separated by a staircase and a century, Zoe and Zoe Louise have been an important and permanent part of each other's lives. Now Zoe is older. And although Zoe Louise never grows up, she is changing in dreadful, frightening ways. Time is running out for Zoe's best friend, and Zoe is the only one who can help her.
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TOL
Who's There? (age 10+)
by Stephanie S. Tolan
family ... illness/loss ... spooky
When fourteen-year-old Drew and her mute younger brother come to live with their father's estranged relatives after their parents' sudden death, they discover that the house is haunted by ghosts and a deadly family secret. A first-rate thriller.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.

Ohlone Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:33 2012
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