Gear Up for Halloween with These Spooky Reads
Halloween is just around the corner. Are you gearing up for the devilish decorations, creepy costumes, and scary sweets? To help your readers get in the holiday spirit, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a few JLG selections that put spooky creatures front and center.
The Haunted House Next Door (Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol Book 1)
By Andres Miedoso
If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? In this case, not the Ghostbusters! The fearless Desmond Cole is an eight-year-old who runs a ghost patrol of his very own. Desmond lives in Kersville, a seemingly normal town that actually has a pretty spooky history and a population of ghosts and other creepy-crawlies who are always up to no good.
Most of the kids in the town don’t encounter these spooks…but sometimes, they do. When a haunted house is discovered or an undead spirit is spotted roaming the halls, it’s Desmond’s job to take care of it. He and his best friend Andres make it their responsibility to keep Kersville safe from the supernatural. But the only problem is, Andres is afraid of everything! In this lighthearted scary story, both boys are called upon to face their fears and prove to themselves what they’re capable of in order to protect the town.
Love, Sugar, Magic: A Dash of Trouble
By Anna Meriano
There’s nothing like a good witch story to get you in the mood for Halloween! Leonora Logroño’s family owns the most popular bakery in Rose Hill, Texas. Customers flock to their shop for cakes, cookies, and all kinds of goodies.
But just what is it that makes their baked goods unique? As Leo discovers one day, her mother, aunt, and older sisters are brujas -- witches of Mexican ancestry -- and they’ve been adding sweet magic to everything they bake. Leonora wants to become a bruja like her family members. And when her best friend Caroline runs into a problem that needs a solution, Leonora sees it as the perfect opportunity to take her magical abilities for a test run. But will things go as smoothly as planned?
This story about an adolescent girl connecting with her family and coming into her own is one we’re sure will keep your readers spellbound.
Legends of the Lost Causes
By Brad McLelland and Louis Sylvester
This action-packed novel is a cross between the best adventure stories and the spookiest zombie tales. Keech Blackwood, an orphan whose home has been destroyed by the villain Bad Whiskey Nelson, must set out on a quest to locate the powerful Char Stone, a magical item that cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands -- like Bad Whiskey’s.
Keech recruits his fellow orphans and together, they make their way through dangerous forests, fight off zombie hordes, and a whole lot more. Along the way, they discover that they share a mysterious bond -- but what does that mean for their quest to find the Stone? And will they reach it before their nemesis?
A tale of young people fighting against magical forces and terrifying enemies in the tradition of popular movies like The Goonies, this is a story not only about overcoming external threats, but slaying inner demons, as well.
We hope you’re having a fantastic season. For more spooky, scary, creepy, crawly titles perfect for this time of year, feel free to head over to Horn Book’s Horn Boo for even more great information on some exciting titles sure to put your readers in the Halloween spirit.
