The Dead End

Casey Slater and her best friend, Jillian Morton, have their whole summer planned out, and it is going to be the best summer of their lives. So, when Casey's parents tell her that they have purchased a summer house in Stillness, New Hampshire, far away from their home in Manhattan, she is devastated. What will she do? When they refuse to let her spend the summer at Jillian's house, she must accept that her plans will change. The old farmhouse in Stillness is a dream for Casey's parents. It has plenty of space, and Casey's mom has all kinds of ideas to remodel it. For Casey, who is a bit overly cautious anyway, the house is a nightmare. It's old, dusty, and hot; it needs work; and it feels creepy. Strange things happen beginning the very first day when she finds a message telling her to "Get Out" in the dust on a bedroom mirror. Bizarre events continue to occur, furthering Casey's feelings that something is wrong with this house. After Casey finds the diary of Millicent Amelia Hughes, another twelve-year-old girl who lived in the house in 1939, she starts to have nightmares and then decides she should find out the house's history. The presences of neighbor boy Erik Greer adds some extra excitement to the summer and he tells her some of the rumors about the house. This scary story, a part of the Poison Apple book series, will keep readers going until the very end. There are just enough spooky events to make you wonder what will happen to Casey, what did happen to Millie, and what is wrong with the house. It's a fun and fast read for middle schoolers who like a good ghost story. Reviewed by: Theresa L. Stowell

As I like Mimi McCoy work in The Candy Apple book The Accidental Cheerleader, I like the supernatural twists to his story even more. Casey Slater is a 12 year girl who is afraid of just about everything. To the disapointment of both her and her best friend, Casey's Parents has bought a summer house for them. Unfortunately for Casey the house is a regular Amityville Horror house with vases blowing up, items getting moved, a close to deadly ceiling fan incident before the power was turn on in the house and more. When Casey finds a diary from 1939 that predicts the events that has happened to her Casey wondered what happened to the former child who live in the house and if she is to face the same fate. She start investigating like Nancy Drew what happened to the owner of the diary and hope she isn't scared to death before she gets her answers. Especially when her parents don't believe that anything unusual is happening.

Scholastic goes Goth, or at least dark and scary. This new series by Scholastic Press has some great potential - it looks like a dark off-shoot of their popular Candy Apple Books. This new series from Poison Apple Books starts with 2 out this spring, one in August and another in the fall and it looks amazing. I have read advance copies of the first two and they were great. Casey Slater had her summer all planned out. She and her best friend knew what they would be doing all summer long and they would be doing it together. Then a few weeks before the end of school her parents tell her they have a surprise. Her parents bought a house in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire, just outside Stillness. Her parents plan to restore this old creaky and creepy house. Everyone in town believes the house is haunted and soon so does Casey. She finds the diary from a girl who lived there 70 years earlier, Millicent Amelia Hughes, and while reading the journal, finds out Millicent's story and her own apprehension of being haunted are eerily similar. China cabinets fall over, vases explode, and all the electrical devices go on before the house has power. These and other events lead Casey to believe the house is haunted, and that maybe Millicent is out to get her. But things are not always as they appear. To quote the back of the book: "Casey thought she'd be dying of boredom, but now she's scared to death!" Poison Apple Books: The Dead End - Mimi McCoy This Totally Bites! - Ruth Ames Miss Fortune - Brandi Dougherty Now You See Me