All the Lovely Bad Ones

 

by Mary Downing Hahn

Travis and his sister, Corey, can’t resist a good trick-so when they learn that their grandmother’s sleepy Vermont inn has a history of ghost sightings, they decide to do a little “haunting” of their own. Scaring the guests proves to be great fun, and before long, the inn is filled with tourists and ghost hunters eager for a glimpse of the supernatural. But Travis and Corey soon find out that they aren’t the only ghosts at Fox Hill Inn. Their thoughtless games have awakened something dangerous, something that should have stayed asleep. Restless, spiteful spirits swarm the inn, while a dark and terrifying presence stalks the halls and the old oak grove on the inn’s grounds. To lay the ghosts to rest, Travis and Corey must first discover the dark history of Fox Hill and the horrors visited on its inhabitants years earlier.

Fall 09 Booklist

The Seer of Shadows

 

by AVI

Newbery Medalist Avi weaves one of his most suspenseful and scary tales—about a ghost who has to be seen to be believed and must be kept from carrying out a horrifying revenge.

The time is 1872. The place is New York City. Horace Carpetine has been raised to believe in science and rationality. So as apprentice to Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer, he thinks of his trade as a scientific art. But when wealthy society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht orders a photographic portrait, strange things begin to happen.

Horace’s first real photographs reveal a frightful likeness: it’s the image of the Von Machts’ dead daughter, Eleanora.

Pegg, the Von Machts’ black servant girl, then leads him to the truth about who Eleanora really was and how she actually died. Joined in friendship, Pegg and Horace soon realize that his photographs are evoking both Eleanora’s image and her ghost. Eleanora returns, a vengeful wraith intent on punishing those who abused her.

Rich in detail, full of the magic of early photography, here is a story about the shadows, visible and invisible, that are always lurking near.

Fall 09 Booklist

Goosebumps Horrorland

 

(Assorted Titles)

Author: R L Stine

The kids who are trapped in HorrorLand thought they had reason enough to panic. That was before they reached Panic Park.

It seemed like the only way to escape the mysterious villain who’s playing puppet-master with their lives. But Panic Park is a perilous place, and it makes HorrorLand seem like HappyLand!

Now they must face their greatest fears–and team up with the unlikeliest allies–in this shocking conclusion to the ride of a lifetime.

Fall 09 Booklist

R L Stine (Robert Lawrence Stine)

Nic Bishop Frogs

by Nic Bishop

For the first- to third-grade set, frogs are an endless source of fascination, especially when looked at VERY close up.

 See tiny poison dart frogs and mammoth bullfrogs, as Nic Bishop’s amazing images show the beauty and diversity of frogs from around the globe.

And simple, engaging text conveys basic information about frogs — as well as cool and quirky facts. Nic Bishop Frogs is a fun and informative tour through an exciting amphibian world.

Fall 09 Booklist

Phillippa Fisher’s Fairy Godsister

 

by Liz Kessler

Philippa Fisher would like nothing more than to summon a fairy.

Still, she is taken aback when Daisy, the new girl at school, announces that she is Philippa’s fairy godmother – or godsister, since they’re both the same age.

Though the fairy is none too pleased with her mission, she is obliged to see it through and grant her human charge the customary three wishes.

Now, if only Philippa would wish for something that makes her life better, not worse! With warmth and whimsy, the creator of Emily Windsnap whisks a traditional theme into a contemporary setting to tell a story of friendship, luck, and how we decide what we really want.

Fall 09 Booklist

The Magic Thief

 

by Sarah Prineas

In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure.

Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery’s pocket and touched the wizard’s locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells.

But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own.

But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who – or what – is stealing the city of Wellmet’s magic.

Fall 09 Booklist

Smiles to Go

 

by Jerry Spinelli

 The author of the Newbery Medal-winning “Maniac Magee” introduces Will Tuppence, a young man whose world is suddenly tipped on its side. Will soon begins to see that the beauty and wonder of life’s journey is in “not” knowing what comes next.

 

Fall 09 Booklist

Sheep

by Valerie Hobbs

Known for her rich character development, the author brings all her skills to delving into the mind of a clever, philosophical, and hopeful Border Collie searching for a home.

Fall 09 Booklist

Night of the Howling Dogs

 

by Graham Salisbury

DYLAN’S SCOUT TROOP goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can’t get along.

That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.

Fall 09 Booklist

Tentacles

 

 

 

by Roland Smith

Marty and Grace O’Hara’s globe-trotting parents disappeared while on assignment for a nature magazine, and now they’re living with their Uncle Wolfe, a scientist fascinated by cryptids–creatures that appear in myths but haven’t been proven to exist, such as the Loch Ness Monster. Wolfe is planning an expedition to New Zealand to track a giant squid, and he’s rented a huge (and possibly haunted) freighter for the trip. But someone on board is determined to sabotage their mission–and if Marty and Grace keeping poking their noses into things, they might end up the saboteur’s next victims!

Fall 09 Booklist