Cold in Summer by Tracy Barrett
J FIC Barrett
Moving to Tennessee is about the worsT thing to happen to Ariadne. She’s left behind her old home and best friend. The kids in her new town are nice enough, but none of them really understand how lost and unhappy she really is until she meets May Butler, a quiet, odd girl who dresses in strange old-fashioned clothes and has a spooky habit of appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye. But no one seems to see or know May Butler. Ariadne learns that May is a ghost, who is trapped and can’t get home. Adriane wants to help, but solving May’s mystery may be more than she bargained for.
Reading Level: 4th-8th grade

The Blue Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer
J FIC Bauer
While at her grandmother’s log cabin, Liz sees a blue ghost in her bedroom. This is followed by her hearing giggling, crying and someone calling for “Elizabeth.” If you like The Blue Ghost, you can also try The Red Ghost.
Reading Level: 2nd-4th grade

The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
JPB B
Lewis is sure that Grandpa Barnavelt’s 1859 lucky coin is really a magic talisman in disguise. With its power, he can do anything he wants, including get back at bully Woody Mingo. But when he starts wearing the coin around his neck, strange things happen. Mysterious letters arrive in the dead of night. A strange, shadowy figure appears to be following him. And when Lewis finally gets his revenge on Woody, he feels as if someone else is inside his body, urging him to go even further. Has Lewis awakened a force beyond his control?
Reading Level: 4th-8th grade

Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost by Cornelia Funke
J FIC Funke
Tom has an ASG (Averagely Spooky Ghost) living in his cellar. With the help of Hetty Hyssop, a trained ghosthunter and friend of his grandma’s, he tries to rid his cellar of Hugo the ASG. Tom learns that an IRG (Incredibly Revolting Ghost) has chased Hugo out of his old home and moved in. With the help of Hetty, he tries to rid the house of the IRG so that Hugo can return to his home. If you like this story, you’ll enjoy the further adventures of Tom and Hetty in the other Ghosthunters books.
Reading Level: 3rd-5th grade

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
J FIC Gaiman
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.
Reading Level: 3rd-8th grade

The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs by Jack Gantos
YA FIC Gantos
A young woman named Ivy, who made a shocking discovery in her small western Pennsylvania town when she was seven years old and learned a surprising secret nine years later, questions whether she has inherited the Rumbaugh curse of having excessive love for one's mother.
Reading Level: 7th grade and up

All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn
J FIC Hahn
After learning their grandmother’s inn is haunted, Travis and Corey decide to do some “haunting” of their own. Before long, their supernatural pranks have tourists flocking to the inn. They soon learn that they aren’t the only ghosts at the inn. Their pranks have awoken the local ghosts who refuse to “rest in peace”.
Reading Level: 4th-7th grade

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
JPB H
Molly and Michael dislike their spooky new stepsister Heather but realize that they must try to save her when she seems ready to follow a ghost child to her doom.
Reading Level: 2nd-5th grade

Jade Green by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
YA FIC Naylor
Recently orphaned Judith Sparrow is invited to live with her uncle under the stipulation that she not bring anything green into his house. Judith is unable to give up the picture of her mother in a silk green frame. This one act causes the ghost of Jade Green, a young girl who died, to haunt the house. What will it take to rid the house of Jade Green?
Reading Level: 6th-8th grade

Lily’s Ghosts by Laura Ruby
J FIC Ruby
After moving to her great-uncle Wes’ Victorian summerhome in Cape May, Lily learns the house is haunted by Wes’ brother Max, who died in a fire. Lily doesn’t know why Max is haunting her until she starts investigating her family’s history and his death. With the help of her new friend, Vaz, she discovers some mysterious clues that uncover a sinister plot. They’ll need to foil the villainous plan before they become ghosts themselves.
Reading Level: 4th-8th grade

Scary States of America by Michael Teitelbaum
J FIC Teitelbaum
Twelve-year-old Jason Specter, a self-proclaimed "clearinghouse for the weird," introduces and presents his favorite stories of the paranormal--one from each state of the Union--submitted to the Web site he created after his own encounter with a ghost at school three years earlier.
Reading level: 4th-7th grade

The information on this page was created by the Vineland Public Library from a brochure funded by a Literacy Grant from the New Jersey State Library with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through its Grants to States program.

If you have comments or suggestions, email Samantha Tai, Children's Outreach Librarian

This information last updated 10/08