SCREAM FOR THE CAMERA

Horror-loving middle school friends tackle ghostly and real-world problems.

Frannie, Whisper, Sophie, Gemma, and Zuzu—members of scary-story club the Graveyard Girls—are trying to find out who dug up the body of local legend Silas Hoke. Whisper finds a clue in her dad’s therapist girlfriend’s confidential patient notes that leads the girls to a local mortuary. A more pressing problem, though, is the fact that Zuzu has been possessed by Ginny Baker, Silas Hoke’s murder victim. As the other girls try to figure out how to dispel the spirit, they have other problems to deal with. Frannie accidentally brings bad luck to her play and must concede her role to her nemesis and understudy. Gemma realizes that her efforts to save her family business, the Spirit Sanctuary, may be doing more harm than good. And the boy Sophie has been texting convinces her to move further outside her comfort zone than she’s ready for, inspiring her scary story about a boy who turns out to be a monster. This story nicely balances supernatural and real-life plotlines and features plenty of imaginative creepy elements. With a plot that follows closely on the events of 2022’s 1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War and a cliffhanger ending, this installment will be best appreciated by committed series readers. Most characters read white; Zuzu’s surname cues her as Japanese, and the cover art depicts Sophie as Black.

Friendship is at the heart of this humorous, spooky tale.