EERIE TALES FROM THE SCHOOL OF SCREAMS by Graham Annable

School is tough. School is scary. School is EERIE. No one knows this better than Davis and Emily. But they’re not scared of school because of tough tests or merciless vice principals. They’re scared because their teacher wants her students to present the class with the spookiest, most chilling stories they can think of. From the twisted mind of Graham Annable comes five horrifying stories that will scare your skeleton right out of your skin.
Reading age: 8-12 This is a really cool horror comic full of twists and turns. The art is stylishly eerie and makes the journey so much fun. Each story works on its own but there’s a mystery woven through. The ending is brilliant!
DEAD WEDNESDAY by Jerry Spinelli

On Dead Wednesday, every eighth grader in Amber Springs is assigned the name and identity of a teenager who died a preventable death in the past year. The kids don black shirts and for the whole day everyone in town pretends they’re invisible – as if they weren’t even there. The adults think it will make them contemplate their mortality. The kids know it’s a free pass to get away with anything.
Worm Tarnauer feels invisible every day. He’s perfectly happy being the unnoticed sidekick of his friend Eddie. So he’s not expecting Dead Wednesday to feel that different. But he didn’t count on being assigned Becca Finch (17, car crash). And he certainly didn’t count on Becca showing up to boss him around! Letting this girl into his head is about to change everything.
Reading age: 10-13 A beautiful and lingering story exploring life, coming-of-age, and our mortality. I loved the unique premise and how—though it is set over one day—there’s a sort of timeless vibe to the story.
DREAD WOOD by Jennifer Killick

It’s basically the worst school detention ever. When classmates (but not mate-mates) Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a SATURDAY, they think things can’t get much worse. But they’re wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary.
What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keeping humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute . . .? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang’s only hope is to work together. But it’s no coincidence that they’re all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge . . .
Reading age: 10+ Saturday detention already sounds like horror, but the horror gets so much more horror-y! Fantastically creepy. A heck of a page-turner. Huge trigger warning for spiders.
GHOST GIRL by Ally Malinenko

Zee Puckett loves ghost stories. She just never expected to be living one.
It all starts with a dark and stormy night. When the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing. There’s a creepy new principal who seems to know everyone’s darkest dreams. And Zee is seeing frightening things: large, scary dogs that talk and maybe even . . . a ghost.
When she tells her classmates, only her best friend Elijah believes her. Worse, mean girl Nellie gives Zee a cruel nickname: Ghost Girl.
But whatever the storm washed up isn’t going away. Everyone’s most selfish wishes start coming true in creepy ways.
To fight for what’s right, Zee will have to embrace what makes her different and what makes her Ghost Girl. And all three of them–Zee, Elijah, and Nellie–will have to work together if they want to give their ghost story a happy ending.
Reading age: 8-12 Fun, spooky adventure with a great trio of kids. I loved all the mystery and weird goings-on!
THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL by Soman Chainani

Every four years, two girls are kidnapped from the village of Gavaldon. Legend has it these lost children are sent to the School for Good and Evil, the fabled institution where they become fairytale heroes or villains.
With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she’ll join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White at the School for Good. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black dresses and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.
But the two girls soon find their fortunes reversed – Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.
But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are?
Reading age: 10-13 I loved the magical setting and all the fairy-tale vibes. It was twisty, atmospheric, and a fun read!


Leave a comment