Category: booklist reviews

OLIVE OAKES AND THE HAUNTED CAROUSEL by Kalynn Bayron

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

There are few things Olive Oakes loves more than solving mysteries with her cousin and best friend, Eli. She feels they’re cut out for far more than the small-scale cases they’ve been tackling all summer, though. Figuring out which neighborhood dog keeps pooping in their front yard is a sort of win, but it’s hardly thrilling detective work. When they tag along with her parents on a real estate job in the small town of Whispering Woods, Olive isn’t exactly expecting much. But soon they start hearing strange stories about missing children and a supposedly haunted carousel at the annual carnival, and Olive can’t help but feel she’s finally found a mystery worthy of her considerable sleuthing skills. Witty, whimsical, and wonderfully cozy, this first entry in a new middle-grade detective series delights from the very first page. Bayron has a particular knack for dialogue, bringing to life two exceptionally lively and charismatic central characters whom readers will be eager to follow. This clever, contemporary take on the classic Nancy Drew formula is sure to charm.

X MARKS THE HAUNT by Lindsay Currie

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

Twelve-year-old Will Stone loves hanging out in the local graveyard. It’s not as creepy as it sounds—his mom runs the old resting place, so it’s practically like his second home. He even lends a hand with the day-to-day work, thanks to his knack for genealogical research and his ability to make sense of the cemetery’s archaic, crumbling records. It’s a quiet, stable sort of life, which suits him just fine, particularly since the recent death of his dad, which turned his world upside down. Then, after a field trip, the resident school bully loses the key to an ancient crypt, accidentally awakening a restless spirit that soon shatters the serenity Will so cherishes. When the seemingly sinister specter starts sapping the life out of the surrounding landscape and haunting Will and his friends in increasingly unsettling ways, Will realizes he must uncover the identity of the agitated apparition before it destroys both the place he loves and the people he holds most dear. Set in Chicago’s historic Graceland Cemetery, Currie’s latest delivers another exciting and eerie mystery, expertly blending fascinating facts with fearsome fiction. Chilling, thrilling, and touching in equal measure, this story of supernatural suspense will appeal to readers of The Forgotten Girl (2019), by India Hill Brown, and Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (2025), by Ally Russell.

THE NOWHERE BEAST by Leslie Vedder

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This review first appeared in Booklist on December 1, 2025.

Ix Tatterfall has everything she thought she wanted: a relationship with her parents, friends (part-Nightmare Morrigan Bea and literal bookworm Oliver Pembrook), and a place to call home (the magical school of Covenant Keep). So why has she been feeling increasingly hollow inside lately? Before she can find an answer, Ix and her friends are summoned back to the school, where long-dead members of the Candle Corps are rising as ghosts, heralding the start of an ancient ritual meant to reinforce the school’s protections against threats from the Labyrinth. But the arrival of the mysterious Nowhere Beast threatens to drag not only Covenant Keep, but the whole of the Waking World, into Nothing. To save the friends and Nightmares she loves, Ix will have to face the Nothing stirring within her . . . or be devoured by it. In this ambitious sequel to The Labyrinth of Souls (2025), Vedder continues to expand her whimsical world and the characters who inhabit it, exploring themes of resentment, remorse, and the unrelenting ways we struggle to feel whole.

YOU ARE NOW OLD ENOUGH TO HEAR THIS by Aaron Starmer

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This review first appeared in Booklist on December 1, 2025.

Twelve-year-old Roman is the youngest in a large family with a complicated history full of secrecy and mystery. Everyone appears determined to keep him in the dark about most things, leaving him feeling lonely and isolated. The only family member who truly connects with Roman is Grandpa Henry, a weird and wonderful man who loves spinning unusual yarns, the oddest of which involves the loss of his toe and how it heralded the arrival of the Toe Beast—a story that spooks Roman so much he’s never had the courage to hear it all the way through. When Grandpa Henry passes away suddenly, Roman is tasked with clearing out his old house. There, he stumbles upon a smattering of unusual objects that seem to lend credence to his grandfather’s odd tales. These discoveries set Roman on a fantastic and bewildering journey through the tangled past, where he will uncover not only the secrets that make his family extraordinary but also the courage to carve out his own place within it. Brimming with heart and creativity, Starmer’s strange and spellbinding story of family, kinship, and coming of age is a triumph of imaginative storytelling that belongs on the same shelf as other offbeat classics of children’s literature like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and Catherynne M. Valente’s Fairyland series.

THE BLACK MARKET by Jed Alexander

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This review first appeared in Booklist on November 5, 2025.

When his enigmatic, globe-trotting great-aunt drops by bearing some bizarre boots, she claims to have gotten from a secret traveling bazaar, where, every Halloween, merchants meet to swap rare, forbidden, and downright dangerous items, Martin—a lover of all things spooky—immediately wishes he could see the lurid place for himself. On Halloween, Martin and his best friend, Jess, manage to find the mysterious market, and he impulsively trades his aunt’s gifts for a Bag of Dirty Tricks. At first, the Tricks seem harmless, but they soon turn meaner and darker. Concerned, the kids ditch the Bag, but when reports of strange and gruesome pranks sweep through town, they realize someone else has unearthed the sinister sack. Determined, the duo sets out to track down and stop the Bag’s new holder before the nastiest Tricks are unleashed. Accompanied by the author’s lively, expressive illustrations, this suburban Halloween romp brims with charm, playful humor, and a delightful dash of the grotesque. An ideal treat for fans of The Halloween Moon (2021), by Joseph Fink, and the Monsterstreet series, by J. H. Reynolds.

RIDE OR DIE by Delilah S. Dawson

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This review first appeared in Booklist on November 5, 2025.

Brie Turner just wants to start over: new school, new friends, new priorities—a new identity. Anything to leave behind the humiliating incident involving her family that made her switch schools in the first place. So when she helps Emily—queen bee of the Ems, the most popular group of girls in school—win a field day race and gets invited to her birthday party at Wildwoods, the town’s storied amusement park, Brie hopes she’s finally found the fresh start she’s been longing for. Except the Ems play mean, and when a game of Truth or Dare goes awry, Brie ends up trapped in the park’s abandoned section, accidentally awakening a long-buried menace that quickly turns her social gamble into a full-on fight for survival. Dawson deftly blends roller-coaster thrills, scary-movie tension, and middle-school drama in this sharp, fast-paced story about friendship, family, and finding out what you’re really made of when the true monsters show up. A perfect ride for fans of other spooky, suspenseful theme-park thrills, like Kiersten White’s Wretched Waterpark (2022) and K. R. Alexander’s Escape (2022).

BEAUTIFUL BRUTAL BODIES by Linda Cheng

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This review first appeared in Booklist on October 1, 2025.

After several of her fans mysteriously die during one of her livestreams, guilt weighs heavily on young singer-songwriter Tian. It doesn’t help that, due to an unusual affliction, she’s rarely allowed to leave her guardian’s estate. So when her usually austere auntie recommends a restorative retreat on an island near Hong Kong, she jumps at the opportunity. Accompanied by Liya, her devoted but distant best friend and bodyguard, and Shenyu, her enthusiastic songwriting partner, Tian looks forward to a restful reprieve from her restrictive life. Once there, however, they begin to suspect that the surreally serene resort and its congregation of attendants might be more cult than commune—and they may harbor sinister intentions toward the group of friends. The resolute trio must uncover their connection to the ethereal island before their bodies are brutally sacrificed to its legend. Cheng explores themes of love, legacy, and the redemptive act of letting go in this sapphic follow-up to Gorgeous Gruesome Faces (2023). Perfect for fans of Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting (2023) and E. Latimer’s The Afterdark (2025).

PENNIES by Lora Senf

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This review first appeared in Booklist on October 1, 2025.

The people of Blight Harbor are no strangers to strange happenings. As residents of the seventh-most haunted town in America, they’re used to the sight of ghosts and having vampires for neighbors. They’re even fine with the occasional appearance of portals to a perilous underworld—where a dark sun hangs in a bruise-colored sky—so long as those doors are quickly sealed shut by the ever-vigilant townspeople. But a recent string of disappearances has everyone on edge, and when friends Mae, Lark, Brigid, and Claret stumble upon a door that none of the adults seem to see, they can’t shake the feeling it’s somehow connected. Then Brigid’s cousin, Emilia, goes missing, and the group suspects that Johnny Pope, the local miscreant, may have used the door to hide her away in the Dark Sun Side. The girls venture through the door, hoping to find their friend before something terrible happens, and they quickly discover that the worst kind of monsters often wear a human face. Senf returns to the world of The Clackity (2022) in this imaginative prequel set 100 years prior, telling a story that beautifully balances fantastical and frightening elements with a wonderfully nuanced and heartfelt portrayal of friendship. Alive with atmosphere and character, this creepy, captivating read will appeal to both longtime fans of the established series and newcomers alike.

BROKEN DOLLS by Ally Malinenko

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This review first appeared in Booklist on September 1, 2025.

Kaye is struggling with the death of her beloved grandfather, her grief manifesting in unexpected ways: compulsive counting and selective mutism. These habits help soothe her anxious mind but make it difficult to express her growing melancholy to a family that already seems to have moved on. It’s a lot for any young person to handle, and it threatens to make this summer—spent helping renovate Grampa’s old house—emotionally overwhelming. And then the dolls arrive. The first one is creepy enough—a porcelain poppet that looks eerily like her younger sister, Holly—but before long, the house is overrun with grotesque, frightening figures. Most disturbingly, the dolls seem alive; Kaye sees them moving around at night and hears them whispering in the dark. Soon, it becomes clear that these twisted toys have sinister schemes in mind for Holly—and that Kaye must reckon with her sorrow in order to save her sister’s life. This thoughtful, profoundly compassionate exploration of anxiety and grief also serves up some serious scares. Malinenko (This Appearing House, 2022) portrays Kaye’s emotional journey in a way that feels real, relatable, and resonant, without ever sacrificing the story’s suspense. A perfect pick for fans of Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces (2018) and Lindsay Currie’s What Lives in the Woods (2021).

LET’S SPLIT UP by Bill Wood

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This review first appeared in Booklist on September 1, 2025.

When the mutilated bodies of two popular students turn up inside an ancient, decrepit mansion on the outskirts of Sanera, California, rumors spread like wildfire—chief among them that the gruesome deed was the work of the malevolent spirit said to haunt the historic house. Friends Amber, Cam, and Jonesy are particularly shaken by the news of their murdered classmates. With encouragement from Buffy—the new girl in town, eager to make a good impression—they set out to unravel the mystery. Whether the culprit is a supernatural slayer or a living, breathing killer, the bodies begin to pile up. And when the intrepid friends become targets themselves, they must come together as a group . . . or die. Debut author Wood wears his influences on his bloody sleeves, delivering a fast-paced homage to the slasher genre, brimming with knowing winks and genuine thrills. While it treads familiar ground, Wood’s enthusiasm for the material is evident and infectious, making for a lively read. Readers who enjoy horror with a healthy dose of playful self-awareness will have a great time solving mysteries with these meddling kids.