A post from Bea
about fall books I love and fundraiser news
I love reading all year long, but especially in the fall. It’s cozy, and it gets dark earlier—and everybody knows it’s better to read spooky stories in the dark.
The first book I want to recommend this spooky season is One for Sorrow: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn, a former school librarian who writes lots of scary books I’ve loved, like Took and Wait Till Helen Comes. This one is set in 1918, during the Spanish influenza. Annie Brown is new at school, and before she has a chance to meet the other girls, Elsie Schneider claims her as her best friend. The other girls don’t like Elsie—they say she’s a tattletale, a liar, a cheat, and a thief. Soon Annie begins to agree with them and bullies Elsie too. After all, Elsie’s father is a German—an enemy in a war overseas. Elsie dies from the flu, and spooky things start to happen, maybe the revenge of Elsie’s ghost! I love this book because it’s a great story, very spooky, and it’s also realistic at the same time. The writer was actually inspired by a story her mother used to tell her about growing up in Baltimore during the same time period.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg is a classic that I picked up at my school’s used book sale last year and finally read. Claudia, who thinks her parents don’t appreciate her, decides not to run from somewhere but to somewhere. She and her brother Jaime wind up living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where they have to hide from security guards and eventually become interested in a special exhibit of a marble angel. This leads them to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’s house (and mixed-up file cabinets) in Connecticut. This book is a little spooky, funny, with a hint of mystery—a perfect fall read.
Trespassers by Breena Bard is a graphic novel I borrowed from the school library. Gabby’s family takes a yearly trip to a cabin in the mountains. When a new family moves in to the cabin next door, the neighbors have two kids, who both seem a little odd. But, their friendship grows over time, and the kids all hear about an abandoned house, built by a mysteriously-disappeared architect and his glamorous model wife. Of course they have to investigate… This is a delightful outdoorsy mystery that just might give you the shivers.
Surprisingly Sarah by Terri Libenson is graphic novel, the latest in the Emmy and Friends series. Leo and Sarah have been best friends since they were little, and Leo happens to be close friends with Sarah’s crush, Ben. It hurts Leo’s feelings that she’s paying attention to Ben, but he doesn’t know why. Suddenly Sarah is faced with a big decision—whether to ask Ben to the big dance, or to chicken out, and if she can do this without neglecting Leo. A great read about friendships and drama—nothing spooky about this one, unless middle school counts as spooky.
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds is a great collection of ten stories, set in the same neighborhood around a city middle school. It’s very creative the way that Jason Reynolds tells the stories from all different perspectives—all kids, but with things going on in their lives. Every story has a school bus in it, which should make it interesting to my mom.
Because it’s October, I also pulled out my old copy of In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories. I got this book when I was three years old after seeing it in the back pages of another book. I begged and begged for it, but the first time my parents read it to me, one of the stories scared me so bad I started crying. Later, I wanted to read it again and again.
My mom told me about an event that’s so exciting: a Keeper of the Lost Cities fan gathering at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. I will definitely be there, hopefully with some friends I’ve gotten into this great series. For a while, I was planning to dress up as Sophie for Halloween, but then I discovered Stranger Things, so I’m going as Eleven.
Dory Fantasmagory: Can’t Live Without You by Abby Hanlon is a hilarious, goofily spooky book the whole family loved. Dory learns that Mozart is dead, and then gets scared that her mom is going to abandon her, or maybe even die, and so she starts to wear a locket with her mom’s picture in it. She says if her mom dies, she’ll trap her ghost in the locket, but it will be a friendly ghost. Of course Mrs. Gobblegracker arrives, and then a babysitter that all the kids try to scare… like all the Dory books, you just have to read it to get it. Preferably out loud!
Finally, I want to say thank you for all your support for our PHS Fundraiser. I’d like to announce to you that we raised $23,000—more than 110% of our goal! I like this kind of fundraiser because we’re not putting more plastic junk into the world, and all the money raised goes to our school. Our school had a pizza party, a celebration with a dunk tank, and on October 21, we’ll have big Fall Festival behind the school with all kinds of fun activities. In November we’re going to plant a native plant garden, and soon our teachers will start planning the new additions to our playground.
Oh and finally finally, here are our last two froglets, which we rescured July 27. We let them go at a pond in our neighborhood this week:
How are you all doing, Frog Troublers? We went to the Taylor Swift concert movie yesterday with some friends and it was amazing! All the kids danced and sang. Love to everybody.
Maybe you know some friends who like to hear about books? Why not…
Thank you, Bea. Your suggestions made me wish my 2 1/2 year old grandson were old enough to read! I liked seeing a couple of titles my own children read and enjoyed (and I read at the time).
Your reading list is perfect with Halloween right around the corner! Congratulations on your school fundraiser, and have fun at the fall festival. Thank you for another wonderful edition of the FTT! my love to you all.