No One Leaves the Manor by Kelly McWilliams - ADVISABLE

No One Leaves the Manor by Kelly McWilliams, 393 pages. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2026. $20

Language: PG (9 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (rape, brief descriptions and language used to briefly mention sexual paintings; Violence: PG (peril from supernatural sources)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS  - OPTIONAL; HS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

It's 1921. Four 15yo debutantes are invited to spend a weekend at Greystone Manor in rural New Hampshire for the chance to compete against each other and become the heiress to the multi-million dollar estate. Each girl comes with a different motivation. Dorothea wants to find out what happened to her mother that disappeared here; Elspeth was sent by her mother to save her family from financial ruin; Vaughn is pampered and spoiled and determined to win the inheritance; and Birdie is a polio survivor and just wants an adventure. The manor is dark, mysterious, and menacing. Dorothea, Elspeth, and Birdie form a friendship, but Vaughn stays aloof as she feels she is above the others. As each debutante encounters strange and supernatural events and rooms in the manor, they quickly realize that the Manor keeps its victims and that they will not be able to escape. A monster lurks behind the walls and in the bowels of the Manor.

McWilliams has created engaging characters with the chapters alternating between the different characters and their experiences, both from their past and in the present at the Manor. This was a Gothic Horror genre, which is not my typical choice of genre; I was happy to see that it was not too creepy, but creepy and weird enough for those lovers of the Horror genre. The final showdown between the characters and the force of evil was intelligently handled and satisfying, especially for those who like an ending with resolution. The novel also had thought-provoking ideas on society and human nature that did not have any agenda attached. As an English teacher, I was also happy to see great vocabulary word building. The one negative I would say is that there were shocking descriptions of paintings of a sexual nature, somewhat perverted, in one of the bedrooms. The description was brief and not dwelt upon. Afterward, the pictures were called 'filthy paintings' by the characters.  Personally, I thought this particular detail was totally unnecessary and did not have any connection to the storyline. Considering this is aimed at Middle School and High School youth, the painting descriptions should have been left out completely. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Rebecca Jo  Hansen, HS Language Arts teacher

Lost Girls of Hollow Lake by Rebekah Faubion - OPTIONAL

Lost Girls of Hollow Lake by Rebekah Faubion, 384 pages. Delacorte Press, 2026. $20

Language: R (95 swears, 15 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (Romantic kissing and snuggling, underage drinking); Violence: R (Numerous on-page bloody and gruesome killings, descriptions of corpses, animal in peril, assault).

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Eight girls went missing on a school trip to Hollow Lake National Park. After 46 days, five return leading to many questions and few answers. As Evie and the other remaining “Lost Girls” try to navigate a return home, they are haunted by the three girls they left behind and what they did during their time in the wilderness. Now someone is coming after the survivors and those involved in the tragedy, picking them off one by one. Evie must decide if the only way to survive and protect the ones she loves means a return to the island and the horror it holds.

A paranormal horror that plays out in dual timelines. The overall plot is 

intriguing, but the execution is average. There are too many characters to 

keep track of, which leads to confusion as the reader attempts to keep 

track of who is in danger, who is missing, who is dead, and who is a 

suspect. The supernatural aspect never comfortably sits with the story 

causing a disconnect for the reader.

Reviewer: AEB

The Moss by Lisa Lueddecke - OPTIONAL

The Moss by Lisa Lueddecke, 304 pages. Simon & Schuster, 2025. $21

Language:  PG-13 (26 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG (Grief); Violence: PG-13 (Murder, attempted murder)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

After her mother and sister Eve went missing, Emma moved to California for a year. Now, 17yo Emma returns home where she and her father try to work through their grief. But that is difficult when the town suspects that her father had something to do with the disappearances. Their house is also located right next to the Moss, a bog where they suspect Eve and her mother disappeared. Emma can see ghosts, including The Sedge Man. Before she disappeared, Eve left a note warning Emma to stay away from the Sedge Man and the Moss, but the Moss is where Emma feels she can find answers. And the Moss keeps calling her in. 

I found the pacing slow with some of the horror elements becoming repetitious. Secondary characters including potential love interest Jordan and Emma's father are static characters who don’t see much development. For a gothic horror novel, it doesn’t offer much new in the genre. However,  it could act as an introduction into the genre for students, and it has a good representation of grief and a thoughtful depiction of the relationship between Emma and her father.

Main characters read white. 

Ms. Megan, High School Librarian

X Marks the Haunt by Lindsay Currie - ADVISABLE

X Marks the Haunt by Lindsay Currie, 285 pages. Delacorte (Random House), 2026. $18

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (ouija board used); Violence: G (mild bullying, ghostly blood, haunting)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Only his best friend, Stash, knows that 12yo Will’s mom is the head caretaker of the local cemetery, Graceland. Except now everyone will know, because his class is there for a fieldtrip. The school bully convinces - threatens - Will into helping him break into a crypt late at night for some social media cred, but something goes terribly wrong.  Now Will is hearing his name in a ghostly whisper, and blood is bubbling up from the ground.  Will and Stash need more help to solve this mystery before its influence spreads. 

Currie is great at writing spooky mysteries that don’t rely on gore to further the story. I personally like the nod to old-fashioned research skills as the group works on the mystery, how they skillfully handle the bully (with some supernatural help), and the byplay between the best friends as they widen their friend group. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Mercy by Patricia Ward - OPTIONAL

Mercy by Patricia Ward, 368 pages. Harper Collins, 2025. $20

Language: R (100+ swears, 16  ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13 (bloody deaths mentioned, attempted sexual assault alluded)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

10th grader Mercy is determined to keep her head down and not cause waves - it is the only way to survive the Sorrowing, a curse that descended upon the core families and extends to their town. The Sorrowing is a curse that unfolded more than 50 years earlier when the town’s richest man murdered his family. As long as you don’t want too much, it generally only makes you miserable instead of trying to kill you. Ben Bowen, the son of one of the core families has returned to town and his family seems to know nothing about the curse.  No one wants to tell them, but as Mercy gets to know Matteo, the son who is her age, she feels more and more obligated to clue him in. Maybe together the two of them can find the answers to questions  no one has dared to ask before there is no one left with the answers.

 Ward spends way too much of the book building up the fact that Mercy is reluctant to get involved and that everyone in the town wants to ignore the SPrrowing and just survive.  Mercy’s dithering makes for a very dull start.  WHich is too bad, because when Mercy finally does become emotionally engaged, the book finally gets interesting.

The characters cue white.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

The Claiming by Jasmine Warga - ADVISABLE

The Claiming (Last Resort #2) by Jasmine Warga, 240 pages. Scholastic, 2026. $18

Language: G (4 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (ghosts and specters)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

7th grader Teddy and his new friends Lila and Caleb defeated the Fire Maiden and sent her back to the Other Side where she belongs -- right? Then why has Lila started flickering? Sometimes she’s there and sometimes she isn’t. And the flickering is getting worse. Tedy has received some help and advice from his friends on the Phantom Hunter forum, especially Rosteen, who knows an awful lot about the spirit world. Turns out the Fire Maiden is gaining in strength - helped along by the seances the kids at their school are holding to summon her.  If the Fire Maiden isn’t stopped, Lila may be lost forever.

The Claiming is written by a different author in the same universe and with the same characters as Erin Entrada Kelly’s original. The Fire Maiden is just as creepy and introducing the seances ups the creep factor.  Neither Lila nor Teddy are confident enough to tell the popular kids to stop their nonsense, so the final scenes in the resort are delightfully stressful and creepy. 

The characters cue white.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Pennies by Lora Senf - ADVISABLE

Pennies by Lora Senf, 384 pages. Atheneum (Simon), 2025. $19

Content: PG (danger, deaths, not described)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

People are disappearing from Blight Harbor.  Lark, Claret, Mae, and Brigid had perfect plans, but their parents are wary of the danger around their town. The girls are sure they know who is behind the trouble, but they can’t get their parents to listen.  Something is really wrong - someone is manipulating the adults. The girls must venture into a dark, mysterious other place to solve the puzzle and rescue one of the girls’ older sister from her unreliable beau, facing danger on many fronts.

Senf takes us back to Blight Harbor in 1921, when John Jeffery Pope was still alive and the Lighthouse Keeper had not yet taken her place. The danger is palpable and Johnny really shows his evil colors. The tension is well built and the friendship between the girls is lovely. It will be good for young raiders to read this right after reading the original trilogy.

The characters cue white.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Lost on Doll Island by Cassandra Ramos-Gomez - ADVISABLE

Lost on Doll Island by Cassandra Ramos-Gomez, 188 pages. Simon and Schuster, 2025. $19 

Language: PG (3 swears, 0 f) Mature Content: G Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: MANY 

11yo Diego's parents are divorcing and he moved from Texas to Mexico City. He is desperate for things to return to normal and be back with an intact family and his friends. So desperate, that when a weird lady in an antique shop gives him a doll and tells him of a wish doll, he decides to make finding it a top priority, When he hears the doll's voice in his head, he is more determined than ever. Coincidently, Diego's school is going to Doll Island for their class field trip, but Doll Island turns out to be creepier and more dangerous than Diego could ever have imagined. 

I liked to use of Spanish in the book, and context clues made it easy to figure out word meaning. The Spanish helped set the creepy tone of the book. The dolls and the island are sufficiently disturbing, and Diego's quest will suck you in. This might be a bit dark for younger readers, but once you start, you'll have to finish. Diego and his friends are Hispanic. 

Michelle in the Middle 

Stitch Head by Guy Bass, illustrated by Pete Williamson - ADVISABLE

Stitch Head by Guy Bass, illustrated by Pete Williamson, 142 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL RH Graphic Random House, 2024. $15 

Language: G (0 swears) Mature Content: G Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: MANY 

Stitch Head is the caretaker of Castle Grotteskew, and is the first of 300 monsters created by a mad scientist. Stitch Head keeps things in the castle running smoothly despite the mad scientist's increasingly evil components. When a traveling carnival ringleader named Fulbert, shows up, it's up to Stitch Head to keep him out of the castle, but Fulbert is determined to put the monsters in a traveling carnival, and Stitch Head is the only thing thwarting his plans. 

The illustrations are fantastic and really add to the tone of the book. Stitch Head, like us, will learn that that not all things that look monstrous are mean, and maybe seemingly normal people are the biggest monsters of all. A quick and easy read about how we want to be seen for who we are. No culture or race is mentioned, though most characters are drawn white. 

Michelle in the Middle 

Stitch by Padraig Kenny - ESSENTIAL

Stitch by Padraig Kenny, 204 pages. Walker (Candlewick), 2024 $18 

Language: G (0 swears) Mature Content: G Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

APPEALS TO: MANY 

Stitch has counted the days since his awakening. When the old Professor dies, his not-so-nice nephew takes over, and Stitch learns that he and his friend, Henry Oaf, have to escape the castle's safety only to learn that they might only be seen as monsters. 

Beautifully written, this book raises all sorts of questions about what it means to be a person and the importance of being nice. As the character, Alice, tells Stitch, "It doesn't matter what you're made from, it doesn't matter where you came from, all that matters is that you're a good person. With emphasis on person." In a world where fear and contention rule, enter Stitch and Henry. This small book will redefine what a monster is and give the reader a welcome moment to pause and celebrate goodness and friendship. No race is specified, as Henry and Stitch are cobbled together from the dead. 

Michelle in the Middle 

Mindworks by Neal Shusterman - ADVISABLE

Mindworks by Neal Shusterman, 571 pages. Simon, NOVEMBER 2025. $29 (hard) $20 (Paper). 9781665990783

Language: PG (23 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (while there is no blood or limb loss or such in the stories, each story is dark and twisted)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL; HS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SOME

Back in the 1990’s, Neal Shusterman released four books of short stories, each with about 8 stories to really shake your brain. I wish I still had those books in my library! Now he has taken most of those stories and added a couple of new stories from the Scythe-dom for 43 stories. While he has updated the technology and some of the writing, the old stories are just as mind-bending as they were when I first read them.

Our current students won’t have read those stories before. The cover and the bricked up page edges will catch their eye. But at over 500 pages it is a chunk of a book to read. I took it a couple of stories a day. Most of them had me sitting at the end just trying to figure out how he manages to create such interesting, if dark, looks at all kinds of people and worlds. The stories are still so Shusterman. I would love to have a reading group read one story at a time and talk about each of them in turn.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS 

Deepwater Creek by Michael Regina - ADVISABLE

Deepwater Creek by Michael Regina, 252 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Putnam (Penguin), 2025. $14 

Language: G (0 swears);  Mature Content: G; Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

Wade and his younger brother, Andrew, and their two friends love going fishing with Wade's dad. They hear about a place on the river that has plentiful fish, though it's farther than they've ever been up river. When they get there, heavy fog rolls in, and while reeling in a giant fish, Andrew falls in. When Wade jumps in to save him, they think they see a monster in the water. Andrew takes a turn for the worse, and Wade and his friends determine to take Andrew back out to see if they can help him but find themselves facing something far more sinister than they were prepared for. 

The plot is sufficiently creepy enough to keep kids engaged without scaring them. The watercolor graphic art works to help create the creepy tone of the piece, and is beautifully rendered. Themes of brotherly love and friendship elevate the story, and you'll be rooting for the brothers and their friends. The brothers are Latino, with one black friend and one white. 

Michelle in the Middle 

Grin by D. W. Gillespie - ESSENTIAL

Grin by D. W. Gillespie, 264 pages. Delacorte (Random House), 2025. $18. 9780593814888

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (possession, some blood, lots of tension)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ESSENTIAL

APPEALS TO: MANY

13yo Danny is so excited to be spending a week with his uncle Bill, who owns a successful video arcade - video games are his jam and now he will be able to play for hours every day. On the way, he is listening to one of his favorite games that is so obscure, it is more of an urban legend - Grin - a game that supposedly brings death along with it.  Imagine Danny’s surprise when Uncle Bill unveils his newest purchase  - Grin. Danny has gotten into a lot more than he bargained for during his arcade week.  He is going to have to gather a few allies if he is going to defeat the evil that wants his Uncle.

I love that GIllespie front loads the possibility of danger and then jumps right into making us afraid - just the kind of scare that builds the most anticipation/anxiety in the reader. I will happily recommend to my students who are craving a good scary book.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

The Glade by Naseem Jamnia - OPTIONAL

The Glade by Naseem Jamnia, 260 pages. Aladdin (Simon), 2025. $18. 

Language: G (2 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (mild scares)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

12yo Pina is headed to camp with her best friend Jo.  Camp Clear Skies is open for the first time in 20 years - closed after a camper disappeared. The campers have been warned to not go into the woods, repeatedly, but Pina, Jo, and a couple of new friends are drawn to the light they see glowing in the glade. Little do they know that something is out there and it needs a new body.

It is too bad that the danger doesn’t become palpable until almost 200 pages in - the kids’ escapades seem harmless and fun until then. After that, there are only 60 more pages to have something interesting happen. 

The characters cue white; there is lots of LGBT pronoun usage, including a possibly transgender character.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

The Executioners Three by Susan Dennard - MANY

The Executioners Three by Susan Dennard, 304 pages. Tor Teen, 2025. $20

Language: R (78 swears, 7 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (fervent kissing, mention of teens smoking and drinking); Violence: PG-13 (bloody deaths)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: MANY

12th grader Theo swerves to miss raccoons crossing the road. He stops to make sure the raccoons are fine but he is shaken by what he discovers. 17yo Freddie is logical and strives to find facts in all situations and when a dead man is found, she knows there’s an easy explanation and that the curse hanging over her community for centuries isn’t real. Theo and Freddie cross paths when Freddie calls the police after she hears screams and unknowingly alerts the police to a rival school's teen party in the woods. She instantly becomes her school’s hero and hated by the rivals. Weird events keep happening that can’t be explained away and Theo and Freddie get completely wrapped up in the danger and the curse!

An ominous poem at the beginning of the book lends to the creepy setting. Humor, charm, cleverness, strong friendship and the spooky vibe made this book fun to read and it’s a perfect YA book for getting into the Halloween spirit. I love the chemistry between Freddie and Theo. They’re from rival schools and have a rollercoaster relationship.

The ethnicity is predominantly white with side characters having different shades of brown skin and a Black girl.

LynnDell Watson, DHS Librarian, Delta, Utah 

Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson - OPTIONAL

Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson, 464 pgs. Delacorte Press, 2025. $20

Language: R (20 swears, 16 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (romantic kissing, mention of consensual sexual relations, sexual assault alluded to);Violence: R (on page: detailed bloody injury, stabbing, detailed description of people being killed by monsters, stabbing deaths, death by frostbite, violence to animals)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: SOME

Page Whittaker is from Florida and has attended many schools as she has always struggled to fit in because of the strange and dangerous events that seem to happen when she is around. After one of these events, Page receives a scholarship offer from a boarding school in the Highlands of Scotland that caters to rich, intellectually gifted, troubled youngsters. This seems like the answer Page has been looking for. A place she can fit in with her love of reading and academics and with the strict discipline the school emphasizes, perhaps she can manage to control the darkness within. However, not long after arriving, Page starts to realize that her new school is full of secrets and the reason she has been brought there may be more about unleashing her darkness rather than controlling it.

Intriguing premise that steadily devolves in the second half. A world with magic, but no clear magic system. Too little world building with too much frenzied action. Lack of character development leaves the reader feeling as though they are being held at a distance and left unable to connect with anyone in the story. Many scenes with bizarre and convoluted happenings that are hard to follow or feel invested in. 

Reviewer: AEB

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb - OPTIONAL

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb, 256 pages. Levine Querido, 2024. $20. 

Language: PG13 (19 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G Violence: PG13 (monsters, peril, stabbings, murder, dead bodies) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SOME 

0n the night of 17yo Sorel's wedding, she runs away, into the woods, throws her wedding dress in the river and dresses as a boy - Isser Jacobs. But she soon discovers that there is a real Isser Jacobs, and there are people after him - they want to kill him or at least get a book that is in his possession. 

So much intrigue - friends become enemies, and there's no one she can really trust. Lamb is a great mystery writer, the twists and turns and revelations are amazing. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about The Forbidden Book. Definitely written for a Jewish audience, some knowledge of Jewish traditions and culture is needed to fully immerse in the book. The characters are Jewish. 

Lisa Librarian 

I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew - OPTIONAL

I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew, 368 pages. Scholastic Press (Scholastic Inc), 2025. $20.

Language: R (84 swears, 18 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

College dropouts paying for their mother’s medical bills are beggars, not choosers, which is why Thomas (18yo) is living the Farrow household as an interpreter for Vivienne (18yo). Vivienne chooses not to speak, but she doesn’t need an interpreter-slash-babysitter. Once she finds a way to ditch Thomas, she can continue with her plans to fix herself—or else die trying.

The occult aspects of this story are not explained very clearly. The vagueness adds an element of horror in the beginning but distracts from the action the deeper readers go, turning mystery into confusion. In the end, the forces of evil somehow collapse, causing the antagonists to somehow face consequences while the protagonists drive hopefully into the dawn of a new day. A happy ending, if not a very disclosing conclusion.

The majority of characters are implied White, and Frances, Hudson, and Reed are part of the LGBT community. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, illegal activity, scary elements, mentions of prostitution, kissing, and innuendo. The violence rating is for assault, gun use, blood and gore, mentions of suicide, and murder.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Snow Drowned by Jennifer D. Lyle - OPTIONAL

Snow Drowned by Jennifer D. Lyle, 304 pages. Sourcebooks, 2024. $12 (paper)

Language: R (92 swears, 12 “f”); Mature Content: PG (drinking mentioned); Violence: R (cult blood rituals and murders)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

16yo Grace can’t wait to graduate and leave Fall Island forever - she isn’t planning on sticking around like so many of her fellow islanders. Who cares if the Wescott founders were supposedly led to the island by a blue-lit angel sent from God. And Grace knows when the snow falls fast and thick, someone is probably going to die. Well, it isn’t going to be her. A chance encounter with Joseph Wescott a dark snowy nights leads them to discover the ritualistic murders of a man and three sheep - something is afoot-tonight! 

Creepy danger, secretive cults, major back-stabbing and betrayals - in the dark, cold, nights of winter. Add this to your creepy horror books if you dare.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

The Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine and Maddi Gonzalez - ADVISABLE

The Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine, adapted by Maddi Gonzalez, 160 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Graphix (Scholastic), 2024. $13 

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: MANY 

Carly Beth is tired of getting teased for being scared all the time. She decides she needs something scarier than the duck costume her mother made her to save face with her friends. Carly Beth goes to a strange costume store and takes home a creepy mask that she is sure will scare everyone. The mask does help Carly Beth feel powerful and scary, but the mask becomes increasingly harder to take off. 

The illustrations work well with the story and are easy to follow. It's an R.L. Stine, so readers know the drill. The graphic novel stays true to its source. Carly Beth could be any student who just wants to get back at people who tease. Relatable and fun, even if the ending is predictable. Carly Beth is white. 

Michelle in the Middle