The Last Resort and How to Free a Jinn

Kelly, Erin Entrada. The Last Resort
September 2, 2025 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Lila Clements is not thrilled that she and her parents, along with her younger brother Caleb, have to travel from Arizona to Castle Hill, Ohio when her grandfather dies. Her father, an actuarial scientist, hasn't had a good relationship with the man since his mother died and the father bought an large, old home to run as a bed and breakfast. On the car trip, the father has to hit the brakes suddenly, and after that, Lila starts to see ghosts, starting with a lot of customers at a diner who aren't there. Once they reach Castle Hill, Lila meets Teddy Hamed, who was good friends with her grandfather. Teddy is not surprised about the ghost sightings, and lets Lila know that there are some rooms in the inn that she doesn't want to stay in for very long. Mr. Clements is surprised that the house wasn't left to Mr. Howler, the grandfather's business partner. When Lila runs into her grandfather's ghost in the hallway, she finds out that he was likely murdered, and sets out with Teddy and Caleb to try to solve this mystery. Things get trickier when there seems to be a portal on the fourth floor that isn't working properly, and there is an evil spirit named Grimsbane who is working against the kids. There are a number of ghosts hanging around the house, including four year old Bonnie, Mary, a Victorian ghost, and a young boy named Timothy. Lila's family is all having nightmares, since ghosts feed on people's fear. Lila also has to contend with some friend drama with Ava and Lexi who are back in Arizona. While the three friends have been close (I love that they call themselves the Neapolitans, since they are a brunnette, red head, and blonde!), Lila tends to over react and needs to always "dial it down a notch". Ava and Lexi think she is childish. Is it overreacting if you can actually see ghosts, and they seem to mean your family harm? Will Lila, Teddy, and Caleb manage to fix the portal because the Clements family has to head back to Arizona? Once this book is published, there will be a website that can be accessed via the QR codes in the book, and readers can "talk" to several of the characters. 

Strengths: If middle grade literature, and especially the late, great Betty Ren Wright, has taught me nothing else, it's that if you are a tween who has to move to or visit an older home, it's going to be haunted. This had enough of a twist to it that I kept turning the pages to find out more about the grandfather, and the inclusion of friend drama will please actual middle grade readers. Having a local character to help out was good, and the house itself was fascinating. Four floors! Great! The parents don't get too involved, but I was glad to see Caleb and Lila get along fairly well. It doesn't hurt that Lila has to learn to "dial down" some of her reactions to things; it's something a lot of tweens could do! This is probably my favorite of Kelly's books, although a bit of a departure from her realistic titles like The Land of the Forgotten Girls, or her science fiction themed The First State of Being. 
Weaknesses: I'm not sure that readers are necessarily going to access the online content through QR codes. Also, the friend drama wasn't resolved as well as it could have been. 
What I really think: There's always a need for books with creepy houses, and this will be a great book to add to a Halloween display along with Oh's Spirit Hunters or Haru: Zombie Dog Hero, Urban's Almost There and Almost Not, or Strong's The Secret Dead Club. 

Idil, Raidah Shah. How to Free a Jinn

September 3, 2024 by Allen & Unwin

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Insyirah and her mother, a freelance artist, live in Australia, but when Syirah's nenek (grandmother) falls, the two move back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to help take care of her. Nenek is wealthy, and lives in a mansion, but still wants to have her family close. Syirah isn't happy about the move, but glad to be closer to her grandmother. When she goes to her school, she is astonished to find that she can talk to what appears to be the ghost of a young boy. After talking to her family, she finds that she has inherited the ability to talk to jinn. Her new friends Fai and Nadia don't doubt her, and her grandmother gives her some information about the family's history of interactions with the supernatural, especially after her grandmother has a heart attack. Syirah is helped by the half jinn Sensei Bilqis, who helps her prepare for dealing with evil spirits. In the end, it's clear that one of the issues that needs to be addressed is the fact that the school was built over a deposit of bodies from World War II. 

If Jinn related books Zargarpur's Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate, Khan's Amir and the Jinn Princess, Lough's The Fire Wish (The Jinni Wars #1), Speakman and Galvin's Rebels of the Lamp, or Crowl's Eden's Wish are popular in your library, definitely take a look at this well-paced fantasy title. My students, who don't pick up as much fantasy as other tweens, definitely don't seek out books about jinn. (Or pirates. Or circuses. No idea why.)