Book Corner
This page is dedicated to all the amazing MG books I’ve read, both spooky and not-so-spooky! As a person who devoured spooky MG when I was a kid, I know that kids love spooky stories! My love of spooky books as a kid fed into my love of all things horror, Halloween, and creepy as an adult. In my own writing, I tend to focus on spooky topics – ghosts, supernatural beings, monsters, etc.
I was super fortunate to request an advanced reader’s copy of Lindsay Currie’s It Found Us on NetGalley and get approved!
This was a SUPER spooky book with some great messages for young readers. Here’s my NetGalley review:
It Found Us by Lindsay Currie is a book after my own heart! I love love love spooky middle grade and Lindsay is a master at creep-factor. There were so many spine-chilling moments in this book that will live rent-free in my mind for a while after reading this book.
Hazel, wannabe private investigator, is such a lovable character. Her growth over the course of the book is just what kids need to see. She’s fierce, she stands by her convictions, but she isn’t afraid of change. As she investigates the mystery of a missing teenager, she learns about compromise, compassion, and confidence.
Her relationship with both her older brother and her best friend are relatable and heartwarming. Throughout the course of the book, Hazel highlights their strengths and uses them to help her solve the mystery,
If you like spooky middle grade, you’ll love It Found Us. Plus the cover art is GORGEOUS. Thanks for a great read Lindsay!
Amari and the Great Game – sequel to B.B. Alston’s Amari and the Night Brothers was such an exciting read! I may have loved it more than the first! Such a fun, magical story set in the real world about a magician named Amari.
Here is Amazon’s description of this book:
After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.
But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about!
But her refusal allows someone else to step forward, a magician with dangerous plans for the League. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind.
The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner’s magical rewards is Quinton’s last hope—so how can Amari refuse?
If you like fantasy, magic, and adventure, definitely check this one out!
Alex Wise vs. The End of the World was an unexpected surprise. From the description, I expected twists and turns and exciting adventures, but what I didn’t expect was how warm and fuzzy this book would make me feel at the end and I’m excited for the next in the series.
Alex Wise doesn’t have it easy. His dad left him and started a new family, and he was betrayed by a friend after revealing a big secret, a secret Alex was still figuring out himself. This left Alex with a lot of emotional wounds and self-doubt, which is why when he finds himself the vessel of a demi-god, he doesn’t understand why he was chosen. He doesn’t think he’s good enough because that’s what these betrayals have made him believe.
The rest of the story is a wild roller coaster of adventure, friendship, magic, and undoing that damage that cut him so deep he couldn’t see his own worth.
This was such a heartfelt story with great characters, a great middle-grade voice, and amazing visibility for all the young queer black kids out there trying to figure out who they are. If you’re looking for any of the above, this is definitely worth the read!
Sequel to Sir Callie and the Champions of Hellston was such a great read! I was pulled into Callie’s world almost immediately after picking up book one. I was eagerly anticipating book two and it did not disappoint!
After 12-year-old Callie fought for the right to train with the goal of becoming a knight someday and exposing the prejudices that made the kingdom frown upon the use of magic, we leave book one feeling hopeful and satisfied that evil did not prevail.
Instantly, we find out that there’s no happily ever after in Helston. There’s still so much resistance to change and even though Peran is no longer a threat, his hatred has left a stain on the kingdom.
The adventure that ensues for Callie and their friends is full of twists and turns, shocking moments, and moments that ripped my heart from my chest.
From learning to accept yourself as you are, confronting your own prejudices, and coming to terms with the fact that parental figures aren’t always right, this book is full of wonderful lessons for young readers.
Esme is an expert story-teller. The inclusivity, diversity, and honesty in this book is real and raw and it’s all woven seamlessly into a fantasy that sucks you in and spits you out at the end wanting more. I can’t wait for book three!
When I say I devoured this book! I was already a huge fan of Lindsay Currie and her spooky stories. At first, I wasn’t so sure how I’d feel about this divergence but wow! I’m so glad I read this book.
Sarah Greene is a middle schooler whose family is having a hard time. When she discovers a foreclosure note taped to her front door, her world completely falls apart. Sarah’s dad is chronically ill and her mother’s been working two jobs to try and make up for the loss of income–and failing. And if the bank takes their house, Sarah will have to move to another state and lose everything.
Together with her best friends (the Deltas), a trio who enjoy puzzles, adventure, math, and challenges, Sarah devises a plan to visit a boarded-up funhouse created by triplet brothers in the 60s. Legend has it that they left a treasure behind and encouraged the public to find it. But then tragedy struck and they never finished the funhouse in time to open it up.
Once in the funhouse, Sarah and the other Deltas realize that finding the triplet treasure might be harder–and more dangerous–than they thought. In a brilliant series of rooms, the Deltas not only face the very real threat of not making it through the funhouse and finding the treasure, but also their own insecurities.
The Mystery of Locked Rooms is a heartwarming story of friends who encourage each other, are supportive, and teach kids that differences aren’t bad. It’s also a wonderful tale about letting go and trusting that things can work out in the end. Lindsay Currie truly is a master storyteller, no matter what genre she writes in. I was hooked from the first chapter and the quick and exciting pace kept me turning the pages.