Gemma was raised in India but is sent back to England after she witnesses her mothers murder. Not only does she see her mother get killed, but the way in which she is killed is so strange and mystical that she is haunted by the images. She enrolls in an academy called Spence where the richest and most powerful families of England send their daughters to be raised. As if starting a new school isn’t hard enough, Gemma starts having visions that become increasingly graphic and powerful. Why is she having these visions? Who will become her friend? Will she ever solve her mothers murder? Read A Great and Terrible Beauty to find out. Grade 8+
14-year-old Joe has an eventful summer in Brooklyn in 1903. His parents have created the first teddy bear and are successful in their new business. The rest of his family is dealing with drama of their own. This book is told from various viewpoints with viewpoints from several homeless kids living under the Brooklyn Bridge and from Joe himself. The homeless children are haunted by a ghostly presence that everyone avoids. Why does everyone try to avoid this ghost? Why is this ghost haunting these children? Does he know something that they don’t know? How is Joe connected to these children and this ghost? Up to the very last chapter, this book will make readers return to the beginning and see everything in a new way.
Do you like ghost stories that are both frightening and hauntingly mysterious?
Although this book is classified under the historical fiction genre, it is also an intriguing ghost story set in New York City in 1872. Horace Carpetine is a photographer’s apprentice who has a horrifying run-in with a spirit bent on revenge. This spirit shows up in photographs that Horace takes, but why? What is the secret that is being kept by a mysterious family who has something to hide? Things don’t go as planned and Horace is heavily involved with a ghost and her angry spirit. Who is this ghost and why is she so angry? To find out, you must read Seer of Shadows by Avi.