The Book Search

I don't usually read ghost stories.  I don't really like to be scared (there's enough scary stuff in the world for me-keep it out of my head!).  But I read a couple this week that were quite remarkable! The first one is called "Olive and the Backstage Ghost" by Michelle Schusterman.  It's about Olive who lives with her mom.  Her mom used to be a famous singer and now she wants Olive to be a famous singer.  Olive's dad has disappeared?  Gone away?  Died?  It's a bit mysterious about what actually happened to dad, but he's not in the picture.  Olive is feeling over pressured by her mother and when she does poorly at an important audition, Olive runs out looking for an escape.  She finds solace at the Maudeville theatre, a beautiful old theater she never noticed before.  She finds people who appreciate her talents and want to make her a star, but there's something not quite right.  This is a super creepy story with a kind of an ...

I'm plowing through the CYBILS middle grade speculative fiction.  There were a few dogs in the pile but I've hit a bit of a hot streak and it's SO much fun to read such imaginative, creative, exciting stories!  Check out these beauties! The first one is called "The Shadow Cipher" and it's the first one a series called York by Laura Ruby.  I'm relieved that this only the first one because the characters and plot of this one were so interesting, I was really sorry for the book to end!  It's about fraternal twins, Tess and Theo, who live with their parents in an old apartment building in New York.  The apartment has been in their family for several generations and there is a story about a mysterious treasure that's hidden with lots of clues and ciphers.  They connect with a boy who lives in their building, Jaime, who is a computer whiz.  He lives with his grandmother, the building's caretaker.  Suddenly, they have a very sharp deadline for solvi...