The first one is a new release: The City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab. The main character in this novel is a girl named Cassidy who has the extraordinary ability to cross over into the realm of ghosts and interact with them. I normally do not like ghost stories, but this one was delightful. It is also set in one of my favorite cities in the world, Edinburgh, Scotland. Schwab brilliantly weaves in local history and lore into her narrative, and our heroine and her friends have a wonderful adventure uncovering an ancient evil. I do think this book could be a little too scary for some younger readers, so I would encourage the parents to be aware of that. I also believe that adults would enjoy this book just as much as I did. Five out of five stars.
My second spooky middle grade read was Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. The main character in this book is a twelve-year-old boy named Charlie. His mom died when he was nine, and now he, his dad and little brother have moved into a mysterious mansion built by the town's founder and owned by Charlie's new stepmother. Charlie absolutely loathes her, in fact, he calls her his step-monster. He is also tormented by nightmares to the point that he is afraid to go to sleep each night and prefers to stay awake. The story begins to unravel when Charlie realizes that most of his friends are also plagued by nightmares and his own personal nightmare has found a way to cross into the Waking World.
This book was a lot of fun. Not only does it have wonderful illustrations, and fun adventures, it also has a great underlying message about facing one's fears and not allowing them to become so big that they engulf your entire life. Sometimes it is just a matter of looking at your thinking and trying to understand why you feel so scared. Uncovering a fear is a huge step toward getting it under control. I highly recommend this book. In fact, there are two other books in this series, but it also reads very well as a stand-alone. Five out of five stars.
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