🎃 The Most Haunted House in America by Jarrett Dapier, illustrated by Lee Gatlin 🎃

The Most Haunted House in America by Jarrett Dapier,

illustrated by Lee Gatlin

Abrams BFYR, 2022, 32 pages

One night in October, an invitation arrived underground inviting the Skeleton Drummers to the White House for an Halloween celebration. And what a fun place to be invited to. Not only is it the president's home, "[b]ut there's one more thing you might not know./ The White House is HAUNTED from top to toe!" A little bit scared, but nevertheless undaunted, the Skeleton Drummers head to the nation's capital and the North Lawn of the President's home.

There, kids dressed up as "wizards and witches and robots and more/ line up the drive and step up to the door." President Obama and First Lady Michelle give out treats to everyone accompanied by the haunting sounds of the Skeleton Drummers. 

Then, when all the treats have been handed out, the President and First Lady invite the Skeleton Drummers into the White House where "...inside the doors, something's not right./ A chill in the air and a prickle of fright/ grab hold of our band. Our sticks start to shake/ our bones start to shudder, then rattle and quake!" Room by room, the drummers encounter all kinds of ghosts and spirits, some historical figures who are still roaming the halls and haunting the rooms of the White House. And what a rollicking Halloween those spirits are having.  

But when they stumble on the Terror Ball, where the living and the dead are partying together, maybe it is time for the Skeleton Drummers to make a hasty exit from the White House out onto the Mall. But ultimately, as they leave at dawn to go back underground, all they can only say "Thank you, First Lady - this night was the BEST!

This is a fun story, told completely in rhyme, and based on a real Halloween celebration in 2009 at the White House during the Obamas' first year living there, when they invited the author to drum along with others drummers while 2,500 kids and their grownups trick or treated there. And, of course, it it believed that the White House is indeed haunted, so together these two things made for a fun Halloween story. 

I loved the pencil, ink, and digital illustrations, done in a bright palette of seasonal colors. And though there are lots of what could be scary beings, both dead and living, throughout none of them are done so that they are too frightening for kids. I would recommend this book for kids over 6 years, and you might find yourself having to explain who the Obamas are. 

There is some back matter consisting of books and online resources where you can find more information about the nation's haunted White House. 

The Most Haunted House in America is a lighthearted picture book perfect for the Halloween season.

🎃The Girl in White by Lindsay Currie

 

What's better than a sinister middle grade ghost story to get the Halloween season off to a good start? And who better than Lindsay Currie to come up with the perfect spine tingler. Mallory Denton, 12, wasn't terribly happy when her parents decided to move from Chicago to Eastport, Massachusetts to open their dream restaurant, The Hill. It even comes with a ready made legend about a casket bursting through the wall from the graveyard next door one stormy October night. In fact, all of Eastport has haunting legends and curses and that's how it makes its tourist money.

And although Mallory and her best friend Emmie don't believe in the legends or curses, Mallory is having the same disturbing dream night after night centered around an old woman. Legend has it that Sweet Molly's brother Liam was killed in a storm one October night and Molly has been haunting the seaport ever since. Now, it is October, a time when the town capitalizes on  the anniversary of the Liam's death. So, when Mallory sees the same lady from her nightmares by the harbor one evening on her way home during an October  storm, she begins to doubt her own disbelief. Is she being haunted by Liam's sister Sweet Molly?

But when Mallory gets home to finally get some much needed sleep, she is surprised when, six hours later, her mother calls from the restaurant to see if she is OK. It seems that Mallory was seen digging in the sand near the harbor. Yet, Mallory has no recollection of going back to there. Could she have walked in her sleep? There is sand and water all over the house and even under her fingernails. Then, Mallory learns she isn't the only one haunted by the same woman. Next door neighbor Joshua, a classmate she hasn't ever really spoken to, tells her the same thing has been happening to him, including the sleepwalking. Together with Emmie and Joshua, Mallory decides it's time to get to the bottom of things. 

As the anniversary celebration draws near, complete with parade, Mallory's other friend Brianne is chosen to play the part of Molly. When Bri appears to be possessed by the spirit of Molly and goes after Mallory, she, Joshua and Emmie decide to include Bri in their investigations. So far, they have two theories - first, that Mallory and Joshua are being targeted because they are the only two kids not born in Eastport, and second, that Molly is getting more agitated as the anniversary of her brother's death comes closer.  And to make matters even worse, Joshua is chosen to play Liam for the anniversary. It's beginning to look like a recipe for disaster. But, can disaster be avoided and peace made with Molly's ghost? 

This was not the kind of ghost story I expected, which was kind of fun and kind of creepy at the same time, by which I mean that the ending was somewhat of a surprise, just not your usual ghostly fare. And that was part of what made this novel so good. Well, that plus the great descriptions of Eastport, and the haunting of Mallory and Joshua. So perfect for this time of year or anytime readers are interested in a story guaranteed to raise the short hairs on their neck. 

Currie, an experienced author in this genre, has created a town that on the surface appears almost comical in their obsession with legends and ghosts, but Mallory's haunting takes it out of the realm of droll and puts it into an almost believable paranormal realm. But the droll is needed, for example, the names Mallory's dad gives the food on his restaurant menus, like his Sunny-Side Up Skull eggs, to relieve some of the haunting tension. 

The Girl in White is a chilling story that is perfect for middle grade readers looking for some October frights. 

And if you have ever visited Salem, Massachusetts in October, than you can believe that a town can become as obsessed as Eastport is portrayed with its haunted legends. 

Thank you to Heather Moore at Sourcebooks Kids for providing me with a review copy of The Girl in White. 

You can see all of this week's wonderful MMGM books thanks to Greg at Always in the Middle

Joe Quinn's Poltergeist by David Almond, illustrated by Dave McKean

**Contains Spoilers**

Joe Quinn's Poltergeist by David Almond,

illustrated by Dave McKean

Candlewick Press, 2019, 80 pages

While watching his crush, Josephine Minto, playing tennis, his friend Joe Quinn comes along and tells Davie and another friend Geordie that his house in haunted by a poltergeist. Naturally, both boys are skeptical but curious. After all, Joe and his mother are known for making up stories. But Joe insists that the poltergeist is real and invites Davie and Geordie to come over for tea and see for themselves.

Sure enough, when they get to Joe's house, they see a broken window and bits of broken cups and plates all over the kitchen. While they are eating the chips that Mrs. Quinn serves them, a slice of bread with butter flies across the room, followed by more crockery. Geordie is convinced that Joe and his mother are making things sail across the room, and refuses to believe that there is a ghost. Davie, on the other hand, isn't so sure, and Mrs. Quinn is certain that he can also feel strange forces in the house.

Davie may be susceptible to her suggestions. His younger sister Barbara, with whom he was close, had died a few years ago and he's never really come to terms it that and, additionally, with his faith. And lately, he has been dreaming about Barbara and wondering whether her spirit could ever come back.

Later, Joe returns to the Quinn's house, bringing Father Kelly, an Irish priest who has already lost his religion, with him. Ironically, after spending time at the home of Mrs. Quinn, and despite his inebriated state and lack of faith, Father Kelly, manages to give to help Davie find some peace of mind when he tells him "There is not Heaven to go to. And no Hell...There's only us, and this...But what an usness and a thisness." Ultimately, Davie concludes that there is no poltergeist, but that "...the poltergeist is all of us, raging and wanting to scream and to fight and to start flinging stuff; to smash and to break. It is all of us wanting to be still, to be quiet, to be in love, to be at peace." Usness and thisness?

What do I think?

I first read Joe Quinn's Poltergeist in a book of short autobiographical stories by David Almond called Half a Creature from the Sea. I found it interesting, but now as a graphic novel, I find it even more so. It is a story about the existential angst of a teenager asking for answers to questions about life and afterlife, and Almond captures his inner turmoil so well. And leaves it to the reader to decide if Davie's conclusions are right, or maybe we each have our own conclusions about these questions.

Click to Enlarge

I think, however, what really removes this book from being an exception short story in prose and puts it into the realm of wonderfully dark graphic novels are the illustrations. As you can see, Dave McKean's angular mix-media illustrations are as haunting and emotional throughout the book as is the illustration on the cover.

David Almond has always been a favorite of mine and this story, that borders on horror, has not failed my expectations one bit. The short story is worth reading (and re-reading as I recently did) and so is the graphic novel. The different formats almost make each one feel like a different story.

This book is recommended for readers age 13+
This book was an EARC received from Candlewick Press through NetGalley

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

Pram (short for Pragmatic) Bellamy, 11, has lead a rather sheltered life living with her two practical aunts, Dee and Nan, at the Halfway to Heaven Home for the Ageing (that's right, ageing), a retirement home they ran.  Pram is home schooled there and excels in all her subjects.  But the only friend her own age that she has is Felix, a ghost who inhabits a tree near the pond on the home's property.  Felix is a lot of fun, but no one else can see him.  In fact, Pram has the ability to see ghosts all the time.

One September morning, a Ms. Appleworth shows up to check on Pram's schooling.  Not happy with what she finds, she insists that Pram should now go to the local school.  Pram isn't happy, but she goes.  On her first day, she meets Clarence Blue, and although the two get off on the wrong foot, they end up being friends in a very short time.

It turns out that Clarance's mother has passed away and he wants to contact her spirit.  Pram, whose mother was also dead, does not know who her father is and decides she wants to find out about him.  The two go to a shady spiritualist, Lady Savant, down an creepy alley in town.  Lady Savant isn't much help for Clarance, but she does sense something special about Pram, something she wants very badly.

Pretty soon, Pram is having strange dreams and sleepwalking to Lady Savant.  And Pram notices that she is forgetting things that she normally has no trouble remembering.  One night, she sleepwalks to Lady Savant's and finds herself being held captive by this strange spiritualist.  Soon, Pram has forgotten who Felix and Clarence are, but Felix hasn't forgotten his only friend.  Felix, who knows what's happening, is the only one who can help Pram, but he's a ghost that Clarance can't see.  How can Felix reach Clarance to alert him to what's happened to Pram?

A friend of mine used the word bizarre to describe A Curious Tale of the In-Between to me, but I didn't find that to be a very apt adjective.  I'm not even sure I would say it's creepy, despite being about the space in-between life and death, inhabited by the dead who haven't move on, and a place that, because of the circumstances of her birth, Pram can be in.  Nothing in that realm was dealt with in such a threatening or sinister manner that readers in the younger range of middle grade who find disturbing or the cause of night frights.

However, I did find it a nice story about a strong protagonist, a valuable friendship (of this world and beyond), and interesting characters (even Lady Savant, who I will admit is somewhat creepy, but more cruel and who has her own sad story, so you end up feeling empathic towards her, anyway).  

A Curious Tale of the In-Between is the first book in a series which should prove to be very interesting and I can't help but wonder if we are really finished with Lady Savant in this first novel.  A lot of time is spent at the beginning of the novel introducing readers to probable recurring characters, familiarizing them with the setting, and necessary backstories, so it was a little slow going at first, but once the main action of the story, the story was a real page-turner.

There's been a lot of buzz about A Curious Tale of the In-Between and I can certainly understand why.  This is a nice story for anyone who enjoys ghost stories, likable heroines, and good plotting.  I'm already looking forward to Pram and Clarance's next adventure in the in-between.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

#Diversiverse Review: How I Became a Ghost, a Choctaw Trail of Tears Story by Tim Tingle

Isaac, 10, and his family are part of the Choctaw Nation living in Mississippi in 1830.  One morning, Isaac's father tells his family that they will have to move from their homeland.  The Choctaws had been Treaty Talking with the Nahullos (White people), who, Isaac declares, must want something.

Around the same time, Isaac begins to have premonitions of how people will die.  And after the Nahullos burn down their village one night, he begins to see the ghosts of deceased Choctaws.  Now homeless, the people of the village are offered blankets to keep warm in, but Isaac's mother refuses to take any.  The blankets were full of smallpox, so many people got sick and dies.

Isaac, his father Zeke, mother Ochi, older brother Luke and talking dog Jumper take off through the woods and soon meet up with many walking Choctaws and soldiers on horses.  All the Choctaws are wrapped in the blankets that the soldiers had given them against the biting winter cold.  Wary, and hiding in the woods, they watched this procession a few days and when nothing happened, Isaac's father stepped out to ask if the blankets were safe.

Isaac's family joins another family, Gabe, Ruth and daughter Nita, 6, on their forced march west, sharing food and shelter.  Isaac continues to see the ghosts of the people from his village, who are now guiding him to keep things safe, but he also realizes that he, too, will become a ghost soon.

Then, Isaac meet Joseph, the grandson of two deceased elders from his village.  Joseph is a shape-shifter who can change into a panther as will.  Together, they make a plan to rescue Naomi, the daughter of Gabe and Ruth, abducted by soldiers to cook and take care of them.  

It is a dangerous rescue with very unexpected results.

How I Became a Ghost is a short, very straightforward story with elements of what we might think of as magical realism, but which are actually parts of Choctaw beliefs.  Tim Tingle takes the reader into their  belief system and lets them experience it without explanation.

The readers comes to understand that family and community are very importance aspects of the Choctaw Nation..  In How I Became a Ghost, you can see in the way they interact with each other that Isaac's family is close, loving and playful.  And community is really just an extension of family, all Choctaw being kin, obvious when Gabe and Ruth welcome Isaac's family to join them on the Trail of Tears.

And ghosts, well, they are present in the daily life, guiding and helping the living.  Choctaw's believe that everyone has an inner spirit or shilup and an outer shadow or shilombish.  The shilup, meaning ghost, is supposed to go to a good afterworld but this couldn't happen without proper burial rituals, which couldn't happen on the Trail of Tears.

Most disturbing to read is the treatment of the Choctaw by the American soldiers.  Abducting children to use as slaves, disregarding all Choctaw traditions, forcing people to walk in the bitter cold and snow with little food or withholding it as punishment, all this is described by Isaac.

But, How I Became a Ghost is written by such a gifted writer that it is not a book that should be passed over.  Tingle is a member of the Choctaw Nation whose great great grandfather walked the Trail of Tears in 1835.  He based this novel on family stories and those of other families, giving it it's feeling of authenticity.

There really are many good books about Native Americans, but Tingle's stories go far in giving the reader a feeling of what life was life.  How I Became a Ghost is the first in a trilogy and I can't wait to read the next book.

The more I think about this novel, the more amazed I am at how much Tingle has managed to put into a novel only 141 pages long and never lose the integrity of the story he is telling. Surely that is the mark of a great storyteller.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

How I Became a Ghost won the 2014 American Indian Youth Literature Award for middle grade category.  Interestingly, Danny Blackgoat, Navaho Prisoner, also by Tim Timgle was the middle grade honor book and was the book that led me to read How I Became a Ghost.

I chose Alvin Ho: Allergic to the Great Wall, The Forbidden Palace, and Other Tourist Attractions for my first book in the A More Diverse Universe Reading Challenge because so often children's books written by people of color are overlooked and there are so many more that there used to be and so many are so wonderful.  This is a middle grade novel which I chose for the same reasons.

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage

In this sequel to Sheila Turnage's Newbury Honor novel Three Times Lucky, Mo and her best friend Dale find themselves embroiled in another mystery after Miss Lana, one of Mo's guardians, accidentally places a high bid on an old dilapidated inn, complete with a certified ghost.

Another mystery for Mo and Dale of the Desperado Detective Agency to solve?  Maybe, after all, they have one successfully solved mystery under their belt.  And when Sixth Grade begins the next day, their teacher, Miss Retzyl, hands them the perfect way to solve the mystery of just who the ghost might be: a three page paper based on interviews with Tupelo Landings eldest citizens to mark the town's 250th anniversary.  What could be better than interviewing a ghost, after all, "ain't older than dead."

But interviewing the ghost for an A in history isn't Mo's only motivation.  If renovating the Inn fails, not only will Miss Lana and her financial partner Grandmother Miss Lacy Thornton face financial ruin, but so will many others in the town, including Dale's mother.  To make matters worst, there is something or someone underfoot sabotaging the renovations, and it doesn't appear to be the ghost.  And there are any number of possible suspects.

Like Mr. Red Baker, whose grandson Harm Crenshaw, 11, has come to live with him, has his own reasons for not wanting the Inn renovated.  Rumor has it that he is still making moonshine in a hidden still that has been in his family since the Inn was first opened so many years ago.  How else would he get the money he always has without a job?

Or maybe it's Harm's brother Flick Crenshaw, and his girlfriend, bank employee Miss Filch a/k/a Rat Face who also have an interest in the Inn.  But why remains a mystery until the end.

With half their History grade riding on a ghost interview, you have to wonder if the Desperado Detective Agency, Paranormal Division has bitten off more that it can chew as they delve into Tupelo Landing's past history and the people who were part of that history.  After all, everyone knows there is no such thing as ghosts.  Right...?

The day I picked up The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, I hadn't been able to really get into any of the other books I had piled up and which had to be read, so I didn't hold out much hope for this one, especially since it was a sequel that literally picks up where the first book ends.  Well, a few hours later, when I finished it, I had that wonderful feeling of satisfaction that comes after reading a good book.

Turns out that The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing is the kind of sequel that can be read without having to read the proceeding book.  There is enough information given about Mo and Dale's background to understand what you need to without retelling the first book.  Which is nice, although now I want to read Three Times Lucky anyway.

There are also some very nice elements about acceptance and getting along that really appealed to me.  Although Mo and Dale start out not liking Harm very much, which isn't an unusual problem for new kids, little by little they begin to find the kind of common ground that leads to friendship.

And I loved the way the generations interacted and treated each other.  There is a mutual respect and acceptance between most of the adults and kids.  Adults are not the brunt of snarky remarks by the kids, who think they are smarter that the grown ups around them.  Mo is definitely a charismatic character, but not at anyone else's expense.

The characters a well-fleshed out and the mystery is fun, making The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing is a novel with lots of personality.  It is the kind of story that makes you hope that you will see Mo and Dale, Harm, Miss Lana, Grandmother Miss Lacy and Mo's other guardian the Colonel again in a third Tupelo Landing story.  Fingers crossed!

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was ARC from the publisher

FYI: This is a map of Tupelo Landing on the front and back endpapers of the hardback version.  It wasn't included in the ARC but would have been very handy.