September 3, 2024 by Aladdin, Simon & Schuster
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Barret Eloise lives on a mountain in Appalachia, not far from Rathfield Manor, a house with a reputation for being haunted after horrible things happened to its residents. She has trouble connecting with her classmates, so hopes that she'll be able to find some friends when Mr. Pinnard assigns a local history group project. She is assigned to work with a former friend, Helena, who ghosted her in fourth grade, a somewhat jerky jock, Ridge, and Wayne, a geeky tech guy on whom she has a crush. Wanting to make a good first impression on the group, she suggests that they choose Rathfield Manor as their location. They agree, and Wayne, Helena, and Barret Eloise all surprise each other by meeting at the library where they are all trying to get a jump on the project! They decide to interview a local real estate agent about the property, and find that the woman involved in the most notorious disappearance at the house, Norma, is now in a senior apartment complex. When they travel there to try to get in to meet her, they run into Ridge, who is there visiting his aunt. This ends up to be... Norma! He agrees to let them meet her, since he is not very interested in other aspects of the work that needs to be done, but warns that she does like to have games mentioned at all. Of course, Barret Eloise mentions that she could be Norma's partner for the senior facility cribbage tournament. On the way out, Norma whispers to Barrett Eloise that she "can't win". Barrett Eloise needs a win, so agrees to meet the group at Rathfield Manor to check out the building. Her brother Cody drops her off. It's a spooky place, but the kids approach it sensibly, except for Helena, who really doesn't want to go in. She's smart, because once they are in, the door locks behind them! Barret Eloise sees a shadowy figure in the house, and the fireplace is lit, so the children are all worried. As they should be! Soon, Ridge realizes that the bottom of his tennis shoe has melted and the floor of the room is actual lava. The four must escape across furniture, and when they make it to safely, words appear on the wall: "You weren't supposed to win." Knowing the history of the home's original owners, they quickly deduce that the ghost who is tormenting them is five year old Finnius, who didn't die with three other children of flu, but perished in a particularly horrible way. He sends them through a variety of treasure hunts and games, and when Ridge loses one, he disappears. Not long after that, Wayne does too, but the girls meet Eugene, Norma's boyfriend who was trapped in the house all those years ago. Unable to leave, he is kept alive by the ghost's magic and doesn't need to eat. He tries to help Helena and Barret Eloise figure out how to "win" the game, and both know they need to help Finnius find peace in order to escape. Will they be able to do this, or will they spend the next sixty years trapped in the house like Eugene?
Strengths: There is something appealing about an old, abandoned house that is rumored to be haunted, and there are plenty of books about these edifices in middle grade literature. This gets bonus points for several reasons: Barret Eloise doesn't move into the haunted house from a different town, there is a school group project that involves different personalities, the group does solid research before they go into the house, and the ghost is both sad and pretty frightening. I also enjoyed Cody way more than I should have; he's older, and drives Barret Eloise places, but acts like an embarassing dad! The slight crush on Wayne, and his kind treatment of her, are a nice touch as well. Escape rooms are having a bit of a trend, so this is another draw.
Weaknesses: Houses can't really be abandoned for sixty years and remain standing, but the idea does make for a great story. I would have liked to know more about how the ghost was able to set up all of the puzzles, but since he's a ghost, we don't really need any other reason.
What I really think: This had a lot of similarities to Currie's Mystery of Locked Rooms , but had more paranormal elements, like Ockler's The Smashed Man of Dread End. This definitely feels similar to Mary Downing Hahn's evil ghost books, like All the Lovely Bad Ones, or Poblocki's The Book of Bad Things.
Strengths: There is something appealing about an old, abandoned house that is rumored to be haunted, and there are plenty of books about these edifices in middle grade literature. This gets bonus points for several reasons: Barret Eloise doesn't move into the haunted house from a different town, there is a school group project that involves different personalities, the group does solid research before they go into the house, and the ghost is both sad and pretty frightening. I also enjoyed Cody way more than I should have; he's older, and drives Barret Eloise places, but acts like an embarassing dad! The slight crush on Wayne, and his kind treatment of her, are a nice touch as well. Escape rooms are having a bit of a trend, so this is another draw.
Weaknesses: Houses can't really be abandoned for sixty years and remain standing, but the idea does make for a great story. I would have liked to know more about how the ghost was able to set up all of the puzzles, but since he's a ghost, we don't really need any other reason.
What I really think: This had a lot of similarities to Currie's Mystery of Locked Rooms , but had more paranormal elements, like Ockler's The Smashed Man of Dread End. This definitely feels similar to Mary Downing Hahn's evil ghost books, like All the Lovely Bad Ones, or Poblocki's The Book of Bad Things.
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