Ghost Soldier
Elaine Mary Alphin

It's been three years since his mother walked out on him and his father, but 13-year-old Alexander still hopes for her return—and blames his father bitterly for her departure. So when his father packs the two of them up for a week long vacation in North Carolina to visit an attractive widow he met at a conference, Alexander moves into high resentment gear. As if he didn't have enough troubles, Alexander finds himself constantly accompanied by the ghost of a Confederate soldier who needs help finding out what became of his family after the war if he is ever to rest in peace.

Cold in Summer

Tracy Barrett

When Ariadne’s family moves to a small community in Tennessee, she sorely misses her best friend from home and barely attempts to make friends in her new school. She becomes intrigued, though, with an odd girl named May, who wears old-fashioned clothes, doesn’t attend school, and seems to appear almost magically when Ariadne is outdoors and feeling lonely or needy. After many clues, Ariadne deduces that May isn’t just a loner, but a ghost.

Tree Girl

T. A. Barron

Nine-year-old Rowanna lives in a cottage by the sea with Master Melwyn, an old fisherman who has raised her from infancy and warned her repeatedly to watch out for the vicious, bloodthirsty ghouls in the forest. Lured by High Willow, the great tree at the top of the forest, and a playful bear cub who befriends the lonely child, she begins to venture into the forbidden forest. There, Rowanna learns to look beyond her preconceptions and understand the magical reality of the forest and the secret of her parentage.

The Empty Mirror

James Lincoln Collier

Orphaned by the 1918 influenza epidemic, 13-year-old Nick has been raised by his uncle Jack, a New England bachelor shopkeeper. Nick’s reputation as a troublesome kid doesn’t help him when he’s wrongly accused of disrespect, and his puzzlement deepens when he discovers that he can no longer see his reflection in a mirror. More unfair accusations make it clear that someone who looks exactly like Nick is stirring up trouble. A gravestone for Jared Solters, a boy of Nick's age who died in the epidemic, provides the clue that causes the teen to investigate the epidemic and learn why Jared wants to inhabit his body and live out the remainder of his life.

The Ghost of Cutler Creek

Cynthia DeFelice

11-year-old Allie loves dogs but her brother's allergic to them, so when her favorite teacher asks her to dog-sit, she's delighted. When the animal is stolen, Allie is distraught.Allie is a "ghost magnet" whose specters contact her to help them resolve painful stories. This time, her ghost doesn't speak; instead, it relies on imagery and scent. It doesn't take long for Allie to realize that her new ghost dog, Hoover's kidnapping, and the mysterious deaths of puppies at the local pet store are all connected and linked to a rude new classmate and his belligerent dad.

If you like this title, make sure to check out Allie's other adventures in The Ghost of Fossil Glen

The Great Sockathon

Michael Delaney

Best friends Sabrina, Megan, Connie, and Daisy are looking forward to a relaxing summer until Sabrina is contacted by the ghost of Eliza Baker, who died 70 years earlier after falling from a 275-year-old balm of Gilead tree located on the village green. When the girls learn that the diseased tree is scheduled for demolition, they decide to collect socks to raise money to purchase a tree brace.

The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story

Mary Downing Hahn

Diana and her younger brother, Georgie, have been living alone on the grounds of the old Willis place for ages. They've seen caretakers come and go, but the new one seems different. Mr. Morrison has a daughter, Lissa, who seems to be about Diana's age. Both girls are lonely and long for a friend but Georgie reminds Diana that it's "against the rules" to have friends; that they must remain out of sight. But Lissa remains intriguing to the children. She not only has a bicycle, but she also has many books and a stuffed animal that reminds Georgie of one he once had. They share even more; Lissa, too, has suffered a huge loss.

The Wrong One

Carol Otis Hurst

After their father passes away and the family's finances crumble, Kate, 11, and Jesse, 8, are forced to move with their mother and newly adopted sister, Sookan, 5, from their beloved Brooklyn home to a fixer-upper farmhouse in Massachusetts. While the family works to build a new life and put their creaky home in order, strange things happen. When Jesse finds an old doll in the rafters of the barn, the Spencers hope that selling it will help solve their money problems, but the five-year-old insists that it is "the wrong one." Then, a doll she retrieves from a hole in the kitchen wall on another occasion turns out to be worth a fortune.

The Great Ghost Rescue

Eva Ibbotson

Ghosts all over England are being driven out of their creepy habitats as castles are renovated for tourists, and not-so-scary Humphrey and his ghost family must flee their ancestral home. Attracted to a boys’ school by the particularly smelly socks of one of the students, they meet up with student activist Rick Henderson, who is intrigued by the ghosts’ plight and agrees to conduct them to Parliament to convince the Prime Minister to create a ghost sanctuary. Rick thinks success is at hand when Lord Bullhaven donates his deserted, seaside castle to the cause, but the sneaky Lord actually intends to trap all the ghosts and exorcise them.

Scribble

Richard W. Jennings

Ever since 12-year-old Lawson’s best friend, Jennifer (“Jip”), died, life hasn’t made much sense. And with his parents constantly fighting, the only thing that provides comfort is the dog Jip gave him, a terrier named Scribble. As time passes and Lawson’s memories of Jip fade, he and Scribble start seeing an odd assortment of ghosts--Sam Walton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nat King Cole, even Henri Matisse. It isn’t long before Lawson becomes convinced that Jip is trying to reach him. But why?

The Poltergoose: A Jiggy McCue Story

Michael Lawrence

Jiggy McCue is being haunted. Something throws pillows across the room, pulls covers off the bed, and generally wreaks loud, hissing havoc all over the family's new house. His parents are blaming him for all the mess and his friends think he's gone nuts. Then, the flapping phantom follows Jiggy to school and attacks his homeroom–invisible wings strike left and right and an invisible beak pecks at exposed sensitive body parts. Once again, Jiggy has to take the rap, but by now, his friends are convinced that he is the victim of a poltergoose.

Operating Codes

Nick Manns

Upon moving into the Sentinel House, five-year-old Matty and fifteen-year-old Graham encounter ghosts from a nearby military compound, but real trouble begins when their father is arrested for posting information about a secret weapons system on the Internet.

Ghost at the Window

Margaret McAllister

Ninian House, Ewan Dart’s home in a small Scottish town, has some quirks--the most troublesome being that it shifts back in time, offering glimpses into history. Past and present collide, when Ewan encounters Elspeth, a young ghost trapped in time, who needs Ewan’s help to find peace at last. Ewan must unravel Elspeth’s past and the mystery of a locked closet--in an increasingly intense race against time.

Olivia Kidney

Ellen Potter

After losing a number of jobs due to his ineptitude, Olivia Kidney's father has landed yet another position as a superintendent in a New York City apartment building. That means that Olivia is, once again, the new kid. Losing her key one day, she meets the first of a number of the building's unusual residents, who turns out to be a ghost. Before the day is over, she has met two mean girls about her age, an old woman whose entire apartment is made of glass, and a budding psychic named Alice.

If you enjoy this title, make sure to check out Olivia's other adventures in Olivia Kidney and the Secret Beneath the City, and Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy.

Lily's Ghosts

Laura Ruby

Lily, 13, and her mother have just moved to this shore community after her mother's breakup with her latest boyfriend. They take up residence in the old Victorian home owned by her mom's Uncle Wes, a relative with whom they have had little contact. Lily is so horrified by a portrait of her other great uncle, a pale, frightening-looking young man, that she hides it in the closet. Very soon, inexplicable things begin to happen: strange phone calls, objects changing location, jam in her shoes. Before long, Lily realizes that she is being haunted, and she resolves to solve a mystery from the past that involves her uncle's house and several of her relatives.

The Haunting of Swain's Fancy
Brenda Seabrooke

From the first moment 11-year-old Taylor sees the 18th-century house her father and his wife, Sylvia, have recently purchased in West Virginia, she feels the presence of all of its previous inhabitants. Her first night there, she sees two ghosts, a disembodied head outside the window of the bedroom she is sharing with her new stepsister, and a woman in a 19th-century dress opening and closing phantom drawers as if searching for something. Taylor discovers that the ghost head is actually a prank dreamed up by Nicole, who is not happy about sharing her room. She reasons that the other ghost was also somehow faked–until Nicole sees her, too.

The Ghosts of Rathburn Park

Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Matthew Hamilton, a gawky 11-year-old, has just moved to Timber City, where his dad has been hired as city manager. While his older brother and sister almost immediately start making friends, Matt is more solitary. A story about ghosts appearing near Rathburn Park, home to an old mansion and, also, before a deadly fire swept through it, the original site of the town, prompts Matt to investigate. He meets a girl in old-fashioned dress, and he is thrilled when she introduces herself as Amelia Rathburn—and stymied when, shortly afterward, he learns that the only Amelia Rathburn on the premises is almost 100 years old.

Vicky Angel

Jacqueline Wilson

Jade and Vicky are as close as sisters and have been friends since nursery school. However, while Vicky is outgoing and bubbly, Jade is quiet, and definitely the follower in the relationship. As the teens are leaving school one day, they have an argument. Vicky flounces off in a huff, crossing the street without looking. She is hit by a car and dies in the hospital. Remorseful, Jade returns to the spot where the accident happened. She encounters Vicky, now a ghost, who over the next several months takes to tormenting Jade, getting in the way of homework and new friendships.

Crandall's Castle

Betty Ren Wright

Charli, 12, is adjusting to life with her new stepfather when her impulsive Uncle Will Crandall announces that he has purchased a rundown mansion, rumored to be haunted, that he plans to turn into a bed-and-breakfast. On her visit, Charli sees the shadow of a rocking cradle and senses a disturbing and frightening presence. Orphaned Sophia, 14, has recently come to live with Charli's aunt and uncle and has a deep secret–she sometimes "knows things" before they happen–and she is convinced that Uncle Will's plans are dangerous.

The Bagpiper's Ghost

Jane Yolen

While in Scotland visiting relatives, 13 year-old twins Peter and Jennifer visit a graveyard hoping to see the ghost of Mary MacFadden, and Peter is possessed by the unhappy spirit of her twin brother, Andrew. Jennifer and her Gran, a white witch, know that they have only one day to get the spirit to leave Peter's body or it will take him over forever. In life, Andrew plotted to keep Mary from marrying Ewan McGregor, and Mary pined away to her grave.