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 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.

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.

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.

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.