This was a sweet little book! I greatly appreciated the realistic depiction of diversity in the friendships and in the families that was shown throughout the book.
As someone who comes from a small town and now lives in a less-small town, that’s an important thing for small-town kids to see. I read a few middle grade books a year and I feel they NEVER have any diversity, so this was a great change. Diversity exists in the real world and shouldn’t be hidden away in fiction just because some people don’t it. books-of-20225 s Georgann 828 31

What a great MG ghost story! Scary and creepy but MG, so I knew everything would be fine. horror middle-grade3 s Sheila1,920 5

This was a nice read. Intriguing, but not too scary. I enjoyed it. Twin sisters moving into a new house thats supposedly haunted.2 s Joe Holman593 4

Very good storyline. Appropriately creepy for the target age (8-12). While siblings can be a pain, they can also be a source of strength. Especially twins. This book shows the power of how twins know each other and can step up to be there for each other.fantasy fiction2 s Jessy92 2

The kid rated it 4 stars. It is hard for me to rate middle grade books sometimes, so I will go with her rating. I d the story it had some funny elements to it that I enjoyed. Some of the ghost/spirit ideas were a little different than the norm, which I d because sometimes ghosts stories can feel very repetitive.

One thing that I feel is too present in a lot of these middle grade books is, "I can't tell my parents what terrible thing is happening because it will upset them/trouble them/make them sadder/they will never believe me," etc. I realize that if they got help from the parents the problems would resolve more quickly, ruining the need for an entire book, but it is still super annoying to me. Everytime I read one of these to the kid, I stop reading and say something "If your friend is harassing you online" or "if you think someone is possessed by a ghost,"etc, "PLEASE TELL ME. I will try to help you. That is literally my job."2 s Jonathan93

This ghost story was ok. It kept me interested until the end. But even for fiction, there was stuff in the story that really didn’t make sense. where some ghosts come from. I love ghost stories, but this one was weird.

The other reason for the lower rating was the diversity seemed forced. I lived in small towns and visited small towns and truthfully there’s one majority race in all of them, not divers racial groups. This was unrealistic.

Since this is a children’s book, it needs to be said that there are gay characters in this book. Thankfully it wasn’t paraded but it didn’t hide it either. This book was purchased at my son’s book fair so I found that offensive. I later found that the author is a big writer of gay books. Children shouldn’t be exposed to this!2 s1 comment Celia101 3

If I could give this book a 0 star rating, I would. Scholastic publishing has gone off the deep end with their book fair selections this year with books these. My daughter checked this book out from the library, and I knew I needed to read it to make sure it was appropriate or not. 11 yr olds do not need to read about vengeful poltergeist/ghost/energy hybrids where it takes a pack of middle school girls to hold a seance when parents aren’t home to conjure up ghosts to help them get rid of the bad one. The writer may be a good at his work ( I was impressed with the main character’s voice sounding a middle school aged girl) but it was so poorly and vapidly written that I could speed read 20 pages in 10 minutes. Suffice to say, I’m taking my daughter to a bookstore this weekend to find an appropriate book that promotes values, fun, and adventure instead of insipid horror primers for elementary to high schoolers. Scholastic needs to step up their game instead of catering to the small minded faddish interests of idiot parents who cater to their child’s every whim.1 Dominic Sedillo265 1 follower

In a nutshell…
In this pre-teen mystery, twin girls discover a spooky secret about the old house their dad just bought to turn into an B&B. The secret is: it’s haunted!!!

The good…
The book does a fair job of a story written through the point of view of an adolescent girl.

I also d that the spooky thing is more of a poltergeist rather than a ghost.

The book also kinda does a good job setting up some rules for the supernatural entities in this story so they aren’t completely running amok.

The bad…
The characters in this story revolve around a bunch of early teen girls, so catty mean-girl behavior abounds.

One character in particular, Beth-Ann reminds me of the mean girl in the “Chucky” television series——her mom is also the mayor of the town just in the show… seems suspect.

I also feel they rush a lot of the final battle and the conjuring of the supernatural doesn’t seem to require much effort; these young girls just sorta ask ghosts for help the way you’d ask for directions at a gas station.

The ambivalent…
All these girls eat is pizza! Every time they’re together they’re ordering a pizza. Where are their parents?! Don’t they care about their kids nutrition?! Even the negligent dad orders it for them a few times. Eat some vegetables for goodness sake!

Overall…
This book had some good things going for it; spooky house with history, ominous drawings in the attic, conjuring ghosts to help fight a poltergeist. However, I think a lot of the ghost stuff was rushed or was lazily made up.

The story presents a lot of neat concepts that I don’t think materialize very well. I don’t really recommend.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review2 s Ms. Yingling2,410 495

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Twins Ava and Cassie move with their parents into Blackthorn House, that their parents are renovating in order to open a bed and breakfast. In the frenzy of moving, Ava is distressed to learn that her father forgot to turn in the forms to play soccer. Since an activity is required in seventh grade, she ends up joining the drama club with Cassie, who is organized and sent in her own forms. The house is rumored to be haunted, and had been last occupied by Lily, a woman born in the early 1900s, who was reclusive and had an interest in the supernatural. There are a few odd things in the house, weird drawings of a screaming girl scribbled under some wall paper, but mostly it is just in need of deep cleaning and many repairs. It's not a horrible move; the girls are befriended right away on the bus by Aisha and Gwen, who are somewhat intrigued by the history of the house, but also share a love of the same types of books that Cassie reads, and who are very welcoming. Ava gets paired with peer mentor Beth-Ann, a stereotypical "mean girl", who is less friendly but doesn't bother the girls too much. When Cassie starts to retreat into herself, Ava notices the change right away and is very worried when her sister gets a good role in the school production of The Wizard of Oz, but starts to hide in her room, talk to herself, and sometimes even to harness weird powers. Ava finds a journal written by Lily in 1916, and learns that she also had a twin, Violet, who was exhibiting the same troublesom behaviors. Since Violet died, Ava and her new friends investigate what might be going on, using books by an author who is set to visit to get some background. After talking to the author, they think they know how to free Cassie from the evil spirit that is posessing her. Will they be able to put their plan into action in time?
Strengths: Ava and Cassie were well depicted twins; they had different interests but were similar enough to enjoy the same friends, and were open to investigating each other's interests even when they weren't very good at the same things. I loved that they made friends right away; I think in many schools, new children are seen as a welcome distraction and do find friend groups fairly quickly. The back story of Lily as the owner of the house works, and we do meet neighbors who had known her for a long time. Neighborhood history is always interesting, and I wish we would see more interactions with neighbors in middle grade books. The friend drama with Beth-Ann takes a nice turn, and it's good to see a novel where the characters are all nice to each other despite problems. The ghosts end up being quite interesting once they make their appearance, and there's some good ghost dispatching work that goes on. The house is also interesting, for readers who love a good historical structure.
Weaknesses: The timeline is carefully constructed with Lily's age and events going on in the world, but I found it a little hard to believe that a journal that was over 100 years old would be just lying on a bed in an abandoned summer house .
What I really think: Hand this to readers who want a slow reveal of horror that isn't very scary mixed with some school drama. Read as would include the work of India Hill Brown, Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters, and Anderson's Riley's Ghost. I was hoping for something a bit scarier, since the cover was reminiscent of Lindsay Duga's Ghost in the Headlights.
Yvonne340 2

?? ?? ?? ??.5

I read my daughter's copy of this book she got at a book fair. I truly enjoyed this "spooky" story; and she did too. She is in her thriller/horror phase and I love it!

This book was really packed with unique details, and I was here for it.

I read some comments about the characters, and though most times I would agree, I did not feel it was pushed or over-spotlighted in this situation.

This book does highlight a group of girls performing séances, but I am glad my daughter can differentiate between situations in books. *if that makes sense.

Reason for 4.5??, I felt the ending could have been better. However, I was happy they got the closure they needed and they were together again. Selena511

Ava and Cassie, twins, move with their family into the Blackthorn House. At one time it was a beautiful house covered in roses. When the former owner passed away over twenty years ago all the roses died overnight.

Ava becomes worried about her twin when she suddenly changes and becomes recluse, choosing to hide in her room and talk to herself.

Ava begins to believe there is a ghost in the house and it is changing Cassie. With the help of her new friends Ava is determined to help her sister from whatever is making her change.

I d the story and have students that are waiting their turn to borrow my book! Satrina T866 38

Ava and Cassie move with their parents to an old, abandoned house. Their dad has an idea to turn this rackety house into a bed and breakfast. Ava and Cassie are twins, but they are total opposites: Ava is very active, enjoys playing soccer and has a lot of friends; Cassie is calmer and more into books.

Suddenly, after finding some abandoned things at the old house, Cassie begins to change, so Ava will have to rescue her with the help of their new friends: Aisha and Gwen.

Favorite character: I d the whole gang and the way their friendship develops.

I was expecting the book to be a little bit creepier but all in all it was a good and entertaining book.2023 fiction ghosts ...more S83 1 follower

Two sister, Ava and Cassie, move into the Blackthorn House inhales of turning the run-down house into a resort. Cassie, however, discovers a crude drawing of a screaming girl named Rosemary on one of the walls of her room. Her life soon changes after that, worrying her sister Ava, who decides to investigate the history of the house along with her new friends.

The plot is gripping. The author beautifully illustrates how signs of a ghost point to something else instead. Tricia Sean208 29

For me this was 3 stars, but I felt this probably gets a 4 stars for its target audience "Middle Grade Ages 8 through 12". It's a youth horror book about twin sisters who move into an old mansion that is known around town for being haunted. I felt it was another good into to horror. I also d the implied diversity that was presented without being heavy handed. I wish the ending was more drawn out actually but it all worked.1 Zoey3

This book is a scary a tingle down your spine but it is a good book if you are in to scary books but not in to really really scare books.

This book is about Cassie and Ava but Cassie is turning into a ghost. They are at there new house call the blackthorn house and it's really creepy here.

In my opinion very great book and interesting. Low key one of the best books I have ever read.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review Autumn Writer7

This book was a fun read, but the ending felt really rushed. The story was toned down and went pretty slow, without anything particularly scary happening till the very last pages, so the elements of the ending could have been explained and described better. The characters were nicely developed and I d the diversity that was shown. Additionally, I love the cover art :) Izzy Larsen2

This is a very good book and there are lots of good cliffhangers. There is very good detail and description. However, I feel the end should have ended differently and not just with Rosemary going away. I feel they should have had a battle scene between Violet and Rosemary. Other than that it is a very good book and I love it so much I defidently recommend reading it. Isabel379 5

Such a great ghost story that might have been a 5/5 if not for the ending that felt quite rushed. But I loved all the characters and would have loved more stories from them and the town, even non-spooky ones ~just one hopeless romantic~191 1 follower

This book was great. I love ghosts and scary stories, and I’m so glad I read this book. I loved the characters and the plot. My only problem with it was it was short. But who knew such a short book could be so good?!1 Rebecca1,035

This book is full of dangerous untruths. It basically depicts a demonic possession and seances to contact "good spirits". Any of this activity will invite demonic interference into your life. Do not think that you can hold a seance to contact a helpful spirit, not true.young-adult Julie803 19

Based on the cover, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it through this book. But it turns out it's not as spooky/horror filled as the cover led me to believe. Still a solid ghost story but that's something to be aware of when students are selecting books.books-read-in-2023 middle-grades Destiny Liskey83 1 follower

I really enjoyed this book and I loved the friendship and I just loved watching it all unfold I did find the action took way too long to get to and it was very short but all the action was minimal just watching them have the little sleepovers it was amazing2023 Angela Sandoval147 2

A simple mass market middle grade horror story, creepy without being terrifying, but the type of "ghost" encountered made for an interesting storyline. And the book has a sweet ending. No doubt, this one will be well-d by our middle school students. Kelly46 1 follower

It was good but not one of my favorites Klix Gonzalez1 reviewWant to read

im gonna read it rnthe-lonely-ghost Michelle Canaday35

Read this book with my 4th grader. He loved it! Definitely more from this author in our future! Samantha Politan13

I read this b/c my fifth grade student asked me too. It was creepy. Avery2

I am reading this book right now and this book is so amazing this is my kinda book. I really this. Randi109 15

My granddaughter picked this book for me at her school book fair. She said the cover looked my kind of book.

This is a great story for young readers who spooky/ghost stories Sofia Fowler6

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