THE BOOK OF BAD THINGS

Will 12-year-old Cassidy’s summer escape from New York City literally be killer?

For the past two years, Cassidy Bean has been in a program that places city kids with suburban families for the summer. When the Tremonts seem hesitant to have her back, Cassidy thinks it’s because of something that happened the previous year. Still, they do invite her again, but when she arrives in Whitechapel, New Jersey, she finds the Tremont’s son Joey, also 12, is no longer fun or friendly. Cassidy also learns that the neighborhood’s creepy curmudgeon and hoarder, Mrs. Chambers, has died. After the Chambers house is cleared out and the townsfolk pick over her treasures, ghost sightings abound—and more people die. Cassidy and her new friend, Ping, persuade Joey to help them find out what’s behind the ghosts and the disappearing bodies. What they discover is worse than anything in Cassidy’s therapy journal, her Book of Bad Things. Poblocki’s return, full of mystery, monsters and ghosts, is sure to satisfy his fans. A solid main character, Cassidy is surrounded by a good supporting cast, and her past troubles figure nicely in the tale and its resolution. Ghostly bits and creepy action are more interesting than the cause of the “haunting,” but the book will nevertheless supply chills, especially if read at night.

Old-school, John Saul–style horror for preteens.