While many of us associate scary stories with October and cool weather, I think it's great fun to read scary stories in the spring, especially when there's a thunderstorm rolling in. I'd like to recommend two scary books I enjoyed recently, and both of them just happened to be written by Asian American authors. First…
Scary Stories
Olive and the Backstage Ghost by Michelle Schusterman
After an unsuccessful audition, Olive runs into an old vaudeville theatre to escape the New York rain. In the comfort of the empty auditorium, Olive sings her heart out and receives the attention of the mysterious Maude Devore. Olive is immediately offered a part in Maude’s variety show, and she is impressed by the theatre…
E-Book & E-Audiobook – Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
Seventh grader Harper Raine knows something is wrong with the old fixer-upper house that her family now calls home. Different rooms are hot or cold, and her brother has started talking to someone only he can see. After befriending a a neighbor and learning more about the history of her house, Harper realizes she must do something fast…
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
“Avoid large places at night—keep to small.” This is the warning that 11 year old Olivia “Ollie” Adler gets from a distraught woman trying desperately to throw a book in the river. Ollie, a lover of books, steals it from the woman, and finds the story within is one she can’t put down. It is…
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
If you enjoy hearing spooky tales told ‘round the campfire, look no further than the audiobook version of The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier. Listen to the tale of Irish orphans Molly and Kip as they travel to a rural English village to begin working and living inside a quirky family’s old mansion. In the dead of…
The Gathering by Dan Poblocki
Looking for a chapter book that sends cold shivers up your spine? Look no further than The Gathering, the first book in the “Shadow House” series by Dan Poblocki. Five children from across the U.S. are lured to the mysterious Larkspur House under false pretenses. Is it a music academy? Is it the residence of…
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
When a prank finds Corinne La Mer chasing a furry agouti through her island’s forbidden forest, she comes face to face with a mysterious creature hidden in shadow. After dodging it, her terror quickly fades. What she comes to find out later, however, is that some thing followed her out of the trees. That thing…
The Creeping Shadow (Lockwood & Co. series) by Jonathan Stroud
Do you enjoy slightly spooky stories that feature a hint of mystery and a dash of adventure? Then dive into this 4th installment from the thrilling Lockwood & Co. series! Once again, the reader is returned to the alternate-London world in which deadly ghosts are a daily part of life, and only children can detect…
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
A spooky, mysterious tree is at the center of this story. Molly and Kip encounter the Windsor family, who are in need of a housekeeper/cook and someone to take care of their yard. The longer Molly and Kip stay, the more they realize that the tree (which the house has been built around) has magical…
Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Imagine working full-time and earning a salary even before your 16th birthday. In The Screaming Staircase, Book 1 of the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud, most children need to work. Why? Because of “the Problem.” In London, ghosts have become an all too familiar sight, and anyone who is touched by one endures…
