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Hear the Wind Blow

On a cold, snowy night, Haswell Magruder makes a decision that will have a profound effect on his own life as well as the lives of all those he loves. A wounded Confederate soldier appears at the family’s Virginia farm, and Haswell convinces his mother and sister to take the man in, despite the certain repercussions if the enemy Yankees were to catch them in such a “traitorous” act. Unfortunately, this is precisely what happens, setting off a horrific chain of events that leaves Haswell’s mother dead and the farmhouse burned to the ground. After leading his younger sister to safety with relatives, Haswell sets out on his journey in search of his older brother, a Confederate soldier. His quest is also a passage into manhood, as he experiences the last bloody days of the Civil War. Skillful storytelling, well-developed characters, and a fast-paced plot distinguish this compelling family story by an award-winning author.
Views: 1 201

Tallahassee Higgins

“Out of sight, out of mind.” That’s what Tallahassee Higgins’s mother, Liz, always says about her ex-boyfriends. But now that Tallahassee has been sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Maryland so Liz can start a movie career in California, the words are taking on new meaning. Aunt Thelma says that Liz is gone for good, but Talley is sure her mother will come for her. So who cares if mean Aunt Thelma hates her, if she’s failing sixth grade, or if the kids at school think she’s a liar? It’s not like she’s staying in Maryland forever. Unless Aunt Thelma is right and Liz isn’t coming back.
Views: 1 156

Took: A Ghost Story

“Folks say Old Auntie takes a girl and keeps her fifty years—then lets her go and takes another one.” Thirteen-year-old Daniel Anderson doesn’t believe Brody Mason’s crazy stories about the ghost witch who lives up on Brewster’s Hill with Bloody Bones, her man-eating razorback hog. He figures Brody’s probably just trying to scare him since he’s the new kid . . . a “stuck-up snot” from Connecticut. But Daniel’s seven-year-old sister Erica has become more and more withdrawn, talking to her lookalike doll. When she disappears into the woods one day, he knows something is terribly wrong. Did the witch strike? Has Erica been “took”?
Views: 1 109

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall

When twelve-year-old Florence boards the crowded horse-drawn coach in London, she looks forward to a new life with her great uncle and aunt at Crutchfield Hall, an old manor house in the English countryside. Anything will be better, she thinks, than the grim London orphanage where she has lived since her parents' death.           But Florence doesn't expect the ghost of her cousin Sophia, who haunts the cavernous rooms and dimly lit hallways of Crutchfield and concocts a plan to use Florence to help her achieve her murderous goals. Will Florence be able to convince the others in the household of the imminent danger and stop Sophia before it's too late?
Views: 1 078

The Girl in the Locked Room: A Ghost Story

Ghost story master Mary Downing Hahn unrolls the suspenseful, spine-chilling yarn of a girl imprisoned for more than a century, the terrifying events that put her there, and a friendship that crosses the boundary between past and present. A family moves into an old, abandoned house. Jules's parents love the house, but Jules is frightened and feels a sense of foreboding. When she sees a pale face in an upstairs window, though, she can't stop wondering about the eerie presence on the top floor—in a room with a locked door. Could it be someone who lived in the house a century earlier? Her fear replaced by fascination, Jules is determined to make contact with the mysterious figure and help unlock the door. Past and present intersect as she and her ghostly friend discover—and change—the fate of the family who lived in the house all those many years ago.
Views: 1 060

All the Lovely Bad Ones

Travis and his sister, Corey, can t resist a good trick. When they learn that their grandmother's quiet Vermont inn, where they re spending the summer, has a history of ghost sightings, they decide to do a little haunting of their own. Before long, their supernatural pranks have tourists flocking to the inn, and business booms. 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. Only Travis and Corey can lay to rest the ghosts they've stirred. This means discovering the secret of Fox Hill and the horrors visited on its inhabitants years before... Once again, Mary Downing Hahn has created a chilling and gripping ghost story in the tradition of The Old Willis Place, Witch Catcher, and Deep and Dark and Dangerous.
Views: 1 047

One for Sorrow

Against the ominous backdrop of the influenza epidemic of 1918, Annie, a new girl at school, is claimed as best friend by Elsie, a classmate who is a tattletale, a liar, and a thief. Soon Annie makes other friends and finds herself joining them in teasing and tormenting Elsie. Elsie dies from influenza, but then she returns to reclaim Annie's friendship and punish all the girls who bullied her. Young readers who revel in spooky stories will relish this chilling tale of a girl haunted by a vengeful ghost.
Views: 1 040

Promises to the Dead

When Jesse went down to the marsh on that fateful day, he expected to find a turtle for terrapin soup. Instead, he comes across a dying slave woman who makes Jesse promise he’ll take her young son, Perry, to a relative in Baltimore. Aiding and abetting a slave is against the law, and it also goes against everything Jesse has been taught to believe. But he can’t break a promise to the dead, and, more important, he has to follow what he knows in his heart to be right.      The journey is more treacherous than Jesse ever imagined. At the crossroads of a country about to plunge into civil war, danger lurks around every corner. Will these boys on the run ever find a safe haven? * Includes an author's note.*
Views: 1 031

Time of the Witch

"In an unusually convincing blend of the supernatural and the real, twelve-year-old Laura tries to prevent her parents' impending divorce by seeking the help of an older woman who may be a witch...."-Horn Book It is the middle of the night and suddenly Laura is awake, trembling with fear. Just beneath her bedroom window, a strange-looking old woman is standing in the moonlight. A big black crow is perched on her shoulder and she is looking up - staring back at Laura. Her name is Maude, and people say she is a witch. The old woman claims she was a friend of Laura's grandmother and wants to do something nice for Laura. If Laura visits her and brings the three things she needs to cast a spell, Laura's fondest wish will come true. With her heart pounding, Laura follows the dark path to a ramshackle old cabin deep in the woods. Little does she know she is beginning the most terrifying journey of her life...
Views: 973

Deep and Dark and Dangerous

Just before summer begins, 13-year-old Ali finds an odd photograph in the attic. She knows the two children in it are her mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie. But who’s the third person, the one who’s been torn out of the picture? Ali figures she’ll find out while she’s vacationing in Maine with Dulcie and her four-year-old daughter, Emma, in the house where Ali’s mother’s family used to spend summers. All hopes for relaxation are quashed shortly after their arrival, though, when the girls meet Sissy, a kid who’s mean and spiteful and a bad influence on Emma. Strangest of all, Sissy keeps talking about a girl named Teresa who drowned under mysterious circumstances back when Claire and Dulcie were kids, and whose body was never found. At first Ali thinks Sissy’s just trying to scare her with a ghost story, but soon she discovers the real reason why Sissy is so angry. . . . Mary Downing Hahn is at her chilling best in this supernatural tale that’s certain to send shivers down her readers’ spines.
Views: 938

Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls

Based on an actual crime in 1955, this YA novel is at once a mystery and a coming-of-age story. The brutal murder of two teenage girls on the last day of Nora Cunningham’s junior year in high school throws Nora into turmoil. Her certainties—friendships, religion, her prudence, her resolve to find a boyfriend taller than she is—are shaken or cast off altogether. Most people in Elmgrove, Maryland, share the comforting conviction that Buddy Novak, who had every reason to want his ex-girlfriend dead, is responsible for the killings. Nora agrees at first, then begins to doubt Buddy’s guilt, and finally comes to believe him innocent—the lone dissenting voice in Elmgrove. Told from several different perspectives, including that of the murderer, Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls is a suspenseful page-turner with a powerful human drama at its core.
Views: 842

Following My Own Footsteps

When Gordy Smith and his down-and-out family go to live with his rich grandmother, Gordy brings with him all the hostilities of an abused child whose drunken father has beaten him regularly. His no-nonsense grandmother and his friendship with a boy who uses a wheelchair change his perspective and life. The author, Mary Downing Hahn is a former children''s librarian.
Views: 785

Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story

Twelve-year-old Molly and her ten-year-old brother, Michael, have never liked their seven-year-old stepsister, Heather. Ever since their parents got married, she's made Molly and Michael's life miserable. Now their parents have moved them all to the country to live in a house that used to be a church, with a cemetery in the backyard. If that's not bad enough, Heather starts talking to a ghost named Helen and warning Molly and Michael that Helen is coming for them. Molly feels certain Heather is in some kind of danger, but every time she tries to help, Heather twists things around to get her into trouble. It seems as if things can't get any worse. But they do -- when Helen comes.
Views: 755

The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster

The Spanish Kidnapping DisasterTwelve-year-old Felix is fascinated. She has never met a woman like Grace -- beautiful, mysterious, and a citizen of the world. If it weren't for Grace, the family's trip to Spain might have been pretty dull. The trouble started when Felix and her stepsister Amy got lost in the middle of Spain, and Grace came to their rescue. Grace not only helped them find the rest of the family, but volunteered to show Felix, Amy, and her brother castles and windmills and Grace's car, bouncing down a dusty back road, when Felix realizes something is very wrong. Grace is not her friend...and they're headed for the most dangerous and terrifying experience of their lives!
Views: 715

Look for Me by Moonlight

When the mysterious Vincent Morthanos arrives to stay at her father's inn, 16-year-old Cynda is mesmerized. His charm and sensitivity are irresistible. His attentiveness is constant. Cynda's sure she's in love. Daring to hope that the stranger shares her feelings, Cynda is innocently blind to who he really is--or to the terrible danger of coming under his spell.
Views: 701