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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. |
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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. |
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COL |
The Supernaturalist
(age 10+) by Eoin Colfer spooky ... science fiction ... adventure ... action Publisher comments: In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures. Together they determine the nature and purpose of the swarming blue Parasites that are invisible to most humans. |
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AIK |
Midnight Is a Place
(age 10+) by Joan Aiken adventure ... mystery ... historical ... spooky Publisher comments: Lucas Bell is lonely and miserable at Midnight Court, a vast, brooding house owned by his intolerable guardian, Sir Randolph Grimsby. When a mysterious carriage brings a visitor to the house, Lucas hopes hes found a friend at last. But the newcomer, Anna Marie, is unfriendly and spoiled—and French. Just when Lucas thinks things cant get any worse, disastrous circumstances force him and Anna Marie, parentless and penniless, into the dark and unfriendly streets of Blastburn. |
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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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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. |
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NIX |
The Haunting
(age 10+) by Joan Lowery Nixon mystery ... spooky Fifteen-year-old Lia comes from a long line of courageous women, dating back to a Civil War survivor who single-handedly saved her Louisiana plantation house, Graymoss, from destruction. But Graymoss is haunted by a terrible evil. With clues from a diary and Favorite Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Lia, who doesn't feel as if she's inherited any family genes of courage, must figure out what--or whom--the evil wants. When Lia's parents decide to move into Graymoss, Lia isn't sure how to convince them to change their minds. But it's up to her to chase away the horror lurking inside the old house. Can she find the courage to deal with a noisy ghost who wants vengeance? |
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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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BRU |
The Dark Pond
(age 10+) by Joseph Bruchac school ... spooky ... mystery ... folklore After he feels a mysterious pull drawing him toward a dark, shadowy pond in the woods, Armie looks to old Native American tales for guidance about the dangerous monster lurking in the water. |
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AND |
The May Bird Series (age 10+) by Jodi Lynn Anderson princesses ... spooky ... action ... adventure ... fantasy Most people aren't very comfortable in the woods, but the woods of Briery Swamp fit May Bird like a fuzzy mitten. There, she is safe from school and the taunts and teases of kids who don't understand her. Hidden in the trees, May is a warrior princess, and her cat, Somber Kitty, is her brave guardian. Then May falls into the lake. When she crawls out, May finds herself in a world that most certainly does not feel like a fuzzy mitten. in fact, it is a place few living people have ever seen. Here towns glow blue beneath zipping stars and the people (people?) walk through walls. Here the Book of the Dead holds the answers to everything in the universe. And here, if May is discovered, the horrifying evil Bo Cleevil will turn her into nothing. May Bird must get out. Fast. title: May Bird and the Ever After title: May Bird Among the Stars |
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GLI |
Pure Dead Series (age 10+) by Debi Gliori fantasy ... humor ... spooky ... magic Things are not right at the Strega-Borgia castle. Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia has been kidnapped. Signora Baci Strega-Borgia is struggling with her spells at the Advanced Witchcraft Institute. Titus and Pandora don't like their suspiciously cheerful and fearless new nanny. Baby Damp has been accidentally shrunk, e-mailed, and lost on the World Wide Web. And to top it off, there's a gangster in a bunny suit lurking about. . . . This seriously over-the-top, gothic romp is sure to have readers clamoring for the next Strega-Borgia adventure. title: Pure Dead Magic |
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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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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 |
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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. |
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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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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. |