Monday, November 30, 2020

Cathy: Twentieth Anniversary Collection by Cathy Guisewite, 160 pages

 Lovable Cathy has been sister, confidante, and best friend to countless fans around the world. She's an Everywoman who experiences frustrations on the job, in her love life, and with her aging parents in much the same way as her real-life counterparts. Yet Cathy always handles everything with aplomb, consistently seeing the funny side of every situation. She's been an inspiration--giving readers infinite reasons to laugh at life's strange realities. 


In this celebration of Cathy's 20 years, creator Guisewite shares some of her earliest strips and recollections of Cathy's growth. An advertising copywriter when she first drew the frazzled Cathy in 1976, Guisewite also reflects on how her own life shaped her character and the strip's other personalities--from boyfriends to pets to parents. From fashion challenges to business travel, Guisewite has covered the gamut of life through her indomitable alter-ego, Cathy, and the trip's been pleasurable for everyone.

In Cathy's 20th Anniversary Collection, readers also accompany Cathy on more adventures: Cathy as she listens patiently to her boss rant about how to buy a new car, replying, "Where"s this energy when we want a man to go in a mall?" Cathy as she turns her mother to mush by asking for quality time. Cathy, frustrated from years of trying to find the right man, as she buys a computer just for the on-line romance chat rooms.

Faithful fans who've grown up with Cathy will treasure this 20th anniversary book from Cathy Guisewite.



Wiener Dog Art by Gary Larson, 110 pages

 Gary Larson created eight original color cartoons exclusively for this collection — including portrayals of Wiener Dog Art in the style of the great masters. The book also exhibits more than 100 Far Side cartoons for the first time in book form, displaying the breadth of humor that Far Side fans have come to expect.




The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff, 152 pages

 In a heartwarming novel that is destined to become a Christmas classic, acclaimed author Elvira Woodruff tells the story of two orphaned sisters whose lives are forever changed by a magical doll.


Lucy and Glory are orphaned sisters with no real place to call home. Only their memories of a beautiful doll named Morning Glory brighten their bleak lives. When a deadly fever sweeps through the workhouse where the girls live, Lucy and Glory flee to the mean streets of London.
One day the girls find an old battered doll that Glory senses is their beloved Morning Glory. But Morning Glory is no ordinary doll--the girls learn that she has magical powers that will change their lives in amazing ways.. With the help of the doll, the sisters discover the true meaning of the Christmas spirit.



Saturday, November 28, 2020

Scientific Progress Goes "Boink" by Bill Watterson, 128 pages

 In this collection, Calvin and his tiger-striped sidekick Hobbes are hilarious whether the two are simply lounging around philosophizing about the future of mankind or plotting their latest money-making scheme. Chock-full of the familiar adventures of Spaceman Spiff, findings of Dad's popularity poll, and time travel to the Jurassic Age, Scientific Progress Goes "Boink" is guaranteed to set scientific inquiry back an eon—and advance the reading pleasure of all Calvin and Hobbes fans.




Mortified: Real Words, Real People, Real Pathetic by David Nadelberg, 399 pages

 Share the shame.


In the days before blogs, teenagers recorded their lives with a pen in top-secret notebooks, usually emblazoned with an earnest, underlined plea to parents to keep away. Since 2002, David Nadelberg has tapped that vast wellspring of adolescent anguish in the stage show Mortified, in which grown men and women confront their past with firsthand tales of their first kiss, first puff, worst prom, fights with mom, life at bible camp, worst hand job, best mall job, and reasons they deserved to marry Simon LeBon.

Following the same formula that has made the live show a beloved cult hit, Mortified the book takes real childhood journals and documents and edits the entries into captivating, comedic, and cathartic stories, introduced by their now older (and allegedly wiser) authors. From letters begging rescue from a hellish summer camp to catty locker notes about stuck-up classmates to obsessive love that borders on stalking, Mortified gives voice to the real -- and really pathetic -- hopes, fears, desires, and creative urgings that have united adolescents for generations.



The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, 279 pages

 Revenge

When Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eugenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered...she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge.

...but
Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times.

...at what price?
When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph, and his greatest loss, comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago...





Wednesday, November 25, 2020

The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book by Bill Watterson, 128 pages

 This is a collection of the classic comic strip that features Calvin, a rambunctious 6-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes charmingly to life. Filled with Watterson’s full-page Sunday strips, this collection is sure to please fans and newcomers alike.




Feast of All Sorrows: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Crystal King, 406 pages

 Set amongst the scandal, wealth, and upstairs-downstairs politics of a Roman family, Crystal King’s seminal debut features the man who inspired the world’s oldest cookbook and the ambition that led to his destruction.


On a blistering day in the twenty-sixth year of Augustus Caesar’s reign, a young chef, Thrasius, is acquired for the exorbitant price of twenty thousand denarii. His purchaser is the infamous gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius, wealthy beyond measure, obsessed with a taste for fine meals from exotic places, and a singular ambition: to serve as culinary advisor to Caesar, an honor that will cement his legacy as Rome's leading epicure.

Apicius rightfully believes that Thrasius is the key to his culinary success, and with Thrasius’s help he soon becomes known for his lavish parties and fantastic meals. Thrasius finds a family in Apicius’s household, his daughter Apicata, his wife Aelia, and her handmaiden, Passia whom Thrasius quickly falls in love with. But as Apicius draws closer to his ultimate goal, his reckless disregard for any who might get in his way takes a dangerous turn that threatens his young family and places his entire household at the mercy of the most powerful forces in Rome.



Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons by Bill Watterson, 128 pages

 Calvin and Hobbes are back. The energetic six-year-old and his sidekick tiger endure all the trials of youth and continue to endear themselves to millions of loyal readers in the latest collection of their shenanigans. This latest assembly of Calvin and Hobbes' adventures has never been collected in book form.




Sunday, November 22, 2020

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, 128 pages

 This is the first collection of the popular comic strip that features Calvin, a rambunctious 6-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes charmingly to life.




The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, 255 pages

 Perhaps the most brilliant comic strip ever created, Calvin and Hobbes continues to entertain with dazzling cartooning and tremendous humor.


Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes has been a worldwide favorite since its introduction in 1985. The strip follows the richly imaginative adventures of Calvin and his trusty tiger, Hobbes. Whether a poignant look at serious family issues or a round of time-travel (with the aid of a well-labeled cardboard box), Calvin and Hobbes will astound and delight you.

Beginning with the day Hobbes sprang into Calvin's tuna fish trap, the first two Calvin and Hobbes collections, Calvin and Hobbes and Something Under The Bed Is Drooling, are brought together in this treasury. Including black-and-white dailies and color Sundays, The Essential Calvin and Hobbes also features an original full-color 16-page story.



The Penguin Classics Book by Henry Eliot, 480 pages

 The Penguin Classics Book is a reader's companion to the largest library of classic literature in the world.


Spanning 4,000 years from the legends of Ancient Mesopotamia to the poetry of the First World War, with Greek tragedies, Icelandic sagas, Japanese epics and much more in between, it encompasses 500 authors and 1,200 books, bringing these to life with lively descriptions, literary connections and beautiful cover designs.



Saturday, November 21, 2020

A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection by Harry Bliss and Steve Martin, 272 pages

 “I've always looked upon cartooning as comedy’s last frontier. I have done stand-up, sketches, movies, monologues, awards show introductions, sound bites, blurbs, talk show appearances, and tweets, but the idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me. I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny. You can understand that I was deeply suspicious of these people who are actually funny.


So writes the multitalented comedian Steve Martin in his introduction to A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection. In order to venture into this lauded territory of cartooning, he partnered with the heralded New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. Steve shared caption and cartoon ideas, Harry provided impeccable artwork, and together they created this collection of humorous cartoons and comic strips, with amusing commentary about their collaboration throughout



Tug of War by Barbara Bleverly, 255 pages

 Joe Sandilands is back and headed to France where he's scheduled to stay as the guest of a glamourous French war window on her estate. The widow needs Joe's help to support her claim that a shell-shocked soldier suffering from amnesia is actually her husband. The problem is that four other men have identified this soldier differently. As Joe investigates all the claims, he uncovers a cleverly concealed murder committed during the war years. This discovery presents him with an even grater dilemma — he must not only solve a killing in the past, but avert a tragedy in the future.




Friday, November 20, 2020

Lio's Astonishing Tales From the Haunted Crypt of Unknown Horrors by Mark Tatulli, 221 pages

 A boy's imagination is unleashed in Lio's Astonishing Tales: From the Haunted Crypt of Unknown Horrors. The 2009 National Cartoonists Award for Best Newspaper Comic Strip, Lio is unique in its pantomime content and drawing style. This treasury includes creator commentary and origins of Lio.


It's slightly dark and terribly funny. Lio, the main character, a young boy with an imagination that has no limit, explores everything kid. From bumps in the night to things hiding under the bed, readers get an inside look at different shades of humor but always come out the other end unscathed and laughing.


The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, 220 pages

 The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the thief's abilities.


What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.



Thursday, November 19, 2020

Lio: Making Friends by Mark Tatulli, 224 pages

 Creepy, crawly, slimy, and awesome! Welcome to the darkly detailed world of spiky-haired Lio.


A curious young scientist and comic book fan, Lio is the defender of the defenseless and the inventor of a legion of zombie bunnies. Lio is joined in his day-to-day exploits by his exasperated and sleep-deprived father, a pet snake named Frank, a squid named Ishmael, and various imaginary robots and creepy, crawly monsters. Within this humorously macabre framework of sarcasm, parody, and high jinks, sidesplitting laughter abounds—all without so much as a word.



Wednesday, November 18, 2020

The Summer of the Danes by Ellis Peters, 184 pages

 In the summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and the Empress Maud, the two royal cousins contending for the throne, have temporarily exhausted each other. On the whole, Brother Cadfael considers peace a blessing. Still, a little excitement never comes amiss to a former soldier, and Cadfael is delighted to accompany a friend on a mission of diplomacy to his native Wales.

 
But shortly after their arrival, the two monks are caught up in another royal feud. The Welsh prince Owain Gwynedd has banished his brother Cadwaladr, accusing him of the treacherous murder of an ally. The reckless Cadwaladr has retaliated by landing an army of Danish mercenaries, poised to invade Wales. As the two armies teeter on the brink of bloody civil war, Cadfael is captured by the Danes and must navigate the brotherly quarrel that threatens to plunge an entire kingdom into chaos.



Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell, 328 pages

 "Do you have a list of your books, or do I just have to stare at them?" Shaun Bythell is the owner of The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland. With more than a mile of shelving, real log fires in the shop and the sea lapping nearby, the shop should be an idyll for bookworms. Unfortunately, Shaun also has to contend with bizarre requests from people who don't understand what a shop is, home invasions during the Wigtown Book Festival and Granny, his neurotic Italian assistant who likes digging for river mud to make poultices. The Diary of a Bookseller (soon to be a major TV series) introduced us to the joys and frustrations of life lived in books. Sardonic and sympathetic in equal measure, Confessions of a Bookseller will reunite readers with the characters they've come to know and love.




Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Zombies Need Love Too: And Still Another Lio Collection by Mark Tatulli, 128 pages

 The main character, Lio, is a small boy with a penchant for befriending squids, monsters, and aliens. Lio is a curious scientist, a comic-book fan, defender of the defenseless and creator of an army of zombie bunnies. All without saying a word. Zombies Need Love Too is Lio's fifth book.



Monday, November 16, 2020

Lio: There's a Monster in My Socks by Mark Tatulli, 224 pages

 For the first time, the creepy, crawly, awesome world of Lio in a kid-targeted book.

The world of Lio is filled with the extraordinary—monsters under the bed, wild reptile pets, robot inventions, weird science—but it’s all commonplace for this most uncommon young man. Mark Tatulli renders this pantomime strip in pen-and-ink style, giving the artwork a dark, spidery feel to match the strip’s dark humor. Lio explores the twisted realm of a kid’s imagination—at once bizarre, creepy, and fun. Now, in this collection edited specially for kids, Lio is available to his most dedicated fans.



Double Dead by Chuck Wendig, 320 pages

 Coburn’s been dead now for close to a century, but seeing as how he’s a vampire and all, it doesn't much bother him. Or at least it didn't, not until he awoke from a forced five-year slumber to discover that most of human civilization was now dead-but not dead like him, oh no.


See, Coburn likes blood. The rest of the walking dead, they like brains. He’s smart. Them, not so much. But they outnumber him by about a million to one. And the clotted blood of the walking dead cannot sustain him. Now he’s starving. And nocturnal. And more pissed-off than a bee-stung rattlesnake. The vampire not only has to find human survivors (with their sweet, sweet blood), but now he has to transition from predator to protector-after all, a man has to look after his food supply.



There's Corpses Everywhere by Mark Tatulli, 128 pages

 Defender of the defenseless and the inventor of a legion of zombie bunnies, Lio is joined in his day-to-day exploits by his exasperated and sleep-deprived father, a pet snake named Frank, a squid named Ishmael, and various imaginary robots and creepy, crawly monsters. Within this humorously macabre framework of sarcasm, parody, and high jinx, sidesplitting laughter abounds--all without so much as a word.




Reheated Lio by Mark Tatulli, 127 pages

 Distinguished by Variety as "a fast riser," Mark Tatulli's morbidly mirthful comic strip Lio proves that happiness is indeed a modified Snuggie for you and your favorite eight-armed cephalopod. Reheated Lio, the fourth Lio cartoon collection, includes 40 weeks of color Sunday strips as well as black-and-white daily strips.

Drawn in the style of cartooning greats Gahan Wilson, Charles Addams, and 19th-century satirist A. J. Volck, Lio is a pantomime strip that tells its story without any dialogue or cartoon captions. Fans of Lio recognize the spiky-haired ghostly pale youngster as a curious scientist, a comic-book fan, the defender of the defenseless, and the creator of a legion of zombie bunnies, flanked by his creepy coterie of friends, including giant squid Ishmael and the scythe-carrying grim reaper.

Inside Reheated Lio, readers learn how Mr. Sneaky's Jokes and Gags can make archery practice more fun, along with the many uses of spiders--including their essential roles in Girl Scout cookie procurement and as a quality pizza condiment. Cozy up to your favorite Snuggied cephalopod with Reheated Lio.




Friday, November 13, 2020

Christmas Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke, 358 pages

 While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michele’s love life is becoming complicated, Lisa needs Hannah’s advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she’s not willing to share. But nothing dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned storefront two doors down from Hannah’s bakery . . .


The befuddled John Doe can’t recall a thing about himself—except for his unusual knowledge of restoring antique furniture. With a smattering of clues and barely enough time to frost Christmas cookies, Hannah must solve a deadly puzzle that could leave her dashing through the snow for her life!



Lio: Happiness is a Squishy Cephalopod by Mark Tatulli, 128 pages

  LI O is a pantomime strip featuring a curious young boy whose daydreams embark from reality destined for the dark chasm where wit and sarcasm collide.

In describing his strip, Tatulli explains he was eager "to bring something truly different to the comics pages . . . something to appeal to all ages, drawn in pictures only. To tell a story without text, while updating the pantomime concept with a modern audience in mind."

* The result is a mind-bendingly humorous and astute journey into the darkly detailed world of young LiO--where a spit wad can put a school bus out of commission faster than a spider can hamper the efforts of the U.S. Postal Service.



Silent But Deadly: Another Lio Collection by Mark Tatulli, 128 pages

Having been distinguished by Variety as "a fast riser," Mark Tatulli's morbidly mirthful pantomime comic strip, LIO, is humorously astute and just slightly askew in its perception of the world.

Centered around an odd, ghostly-pale child named LIO, and his creepy coterie of friends, including a giant squid named Ishmael and a scythe-carrying grim reaper, LIO; is influenced by cartooning greats Gahan Wilson, Charles Addams, and 19th-century satirist A. J. Volck.




Thursday, November 12, 2020

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer, 278 pages

 High school totally bites when you’re half human, half vampire.

Freshman year sucks for Vlad Tod. Bullies still harass him. The photographer from the school newspaper is tailing him. And failing his studies could be deadly. A trip to Siberia gives “study abroad” a whole new meaning as Vlad connects with other vampires and advances his mind-control abilities, but will he return home with the skills to recognize a vampire slayer when he sees one? In this thrilling sequel to Eighth Grade Bites, Vlad must confront the secrets of the past and battle forces that once again threaten his life.




Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Curtain Call: Babymouse Tales From the Locker by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm, 208 pages

 All of middle school's a play--at least, it seems that way to Babymouse. So when she hears about auditions for the school play, she jumps at the chance. She knows she's destined to be the lead! Or the lead's best friend. Or...Clown #2? Babymouse scrambles to memorize her one line, work on set design, and try to wrap her head around stage directions. But when the big show has a major glitch, it will take all of Babymouse's newfound skills to save the play.




Monday, November 9, 2020

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer, 182 pages

 Junior high really sucks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: his mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he faces a much bigger problem: he's being hunted by a vampire killer.




The Potter's Field by Ellis Peters, 179 pages

When a newly plowed field recently given to the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul yields the body of a young woman, Brother Cadfael is quickly thrown into a delicate situation. The field was once owned by a local potter named Ruald, who had abandoned his beautiful wife, Generys, to take monastic vows.

Generys was said to have gone away with a lover, but now it seems as if she had been murdered. With the arrival at the abbey of young Sulien Blount, a novice fleeing homeward from the civil war raging in East Anglia, the mysteries surrounding the corpse start to multiply.



Sunday, November 8, 2020

Finding Fraser by K. C. Dyer, 354 pages

 Sometimes searching for true love can be a little...Outlandish.


I met Jamie Fraser when I was nineteen years old. He was tall, red-headed, and at our first meeting at least, a virgin. I fell in love hard, fast and completely. He knew how to ride a horse, wield a sword and stitch a wound. He was, in fact, the perfect man.

That he was fictional hardly entered into it.

At 29, Emma Sheridan's life is a disaster and she's tired of waiting for the perfect boyfriend to step from the pages of her favorite book. There's only one place to look, and it means selling everything and leaving her world behind. With an unexpected collection of allies along the way, can Emma face down a naked fishmonger, a randy gnome, a perfidious thief, and even her own abdominal muscles on the journey to find her Fraser?



Archie's Double Digest #124, 254 pages

 


Archie's Double Digest #121, 254 pages

 


Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Mother, Can You Not? by Kate Siegel, 253 pages

 There is nothing more wonderful than a mother’s love. There is also nothing more annoying. Who else can proudly insist that you’re perfect while simultaneously making you question every career, fashion, and relationship decision you have ever made?

 
No one understands the delicate mother-daughter dynamic better than Kate Siegel—her own mother drove her so crazy that she decided to broadcast their hilarious conversations on Instagram. Soon, hundreds of thousands of people were following their daily text exchanges, eager to see what outrageous thing Kate’s mom would do next. Now, in Mother, Can You NOT?, Kate pays tribute to the woman who invented the concept of drone parenting. 

From embarrassing moments (like crashing Kate's gynecological exams) to outrageous stories (like the time she made Kate steal a cat from the pound) to hilarious celebrations (including but not limited to parties for Kate's menstrual cycles), Mother, Can you NOT? lovingly lampoons the lengths to which our mothers will go to better our lives (even if it feels like they’re ruining them in the process).



The Crazyladies of Pearl Street by Trevanian, 367 pages

 The place is Albany, New York. The year is 1936. Six-year-old Jean-Luc LaPointe, his little sister, and their spirited but vulnerable young mother have been abandoned—again—by his father, a charmer and a con artist. With no money and no family willing to take them in, the LaPointes manage to create a fragile nest at 238 North Pearl Street. For the next eight years, through the Great Depression and Second World War, they live in the heart of the Irish slum, with its ward heelers, unemployment, and grinding poverty. As Jean-Luc discovers, it’s a neighborhood of “crazyladies”: Miss Cox, the feared and ridiculed teacher who ignites his imagination; Mrs. Kane, who runs a beauty parlor/fortune-telling salon in the back of her husband’s grocery store; Mrs. Meehan, the desperate, harried matriarch of a thuggish family across the street; lonely Mrs. McGivney, who spends every day tending to her catatonic husband, a veteran of the Great War; and Jean-Luc’s own unconventional, vivacious mother.


Jean-Luc is a voracious reader who never stops dreaming of a way out of the slum. He gradually takes on responsibility for the family’s survival with a mix of bravery and resentment while his mom turns from spells of illness and depression to eager planning for the day when “our ship will come in.” It’s a heartfelt and unforgettable look back at one child’s life in the 1930s and ’40s, a story that will be remembered long after the last page is turned.



Monday, November 2, 2020

Venom Doc: The Edgiest, Darkest, Strangest Natural History Memoir Ever by Bryan Grieg Fry, 292 pages

 Venomologist Bryan Grieg Fry has one of the most dangerous jobs on earth: he works with its deadliest creatures. He’s been bitten by twenty-six venomous snakes, been stung by three stingrays, and survived a near-fatal scorpion sting while deep in the Amazon jungle. He’s received more than four hundred stitches and broken twenty-three bones, including breaking his back in three places, and had to learn how to walk again. But when you research only the venom you yourself have collected, the adventures—and danger—never stop.


Imagine a three-week-long first date in Siberia catching venomous water shrews with the daughter of a Russian war hero; a wedding attended by Eastern European prime ministers and their machine-gun-wielding bodyguards and snakes; or leading a team to Antarctica that results in the discovery of four new species of venomous octopi. Bryan’s discoveries have radically reshaped views on venom evolution and contributed to the creation of venom-based life-saving medications. In pursuit of venom, he has traveled the world collecting samples from Indonesia to Mexico, Germany, and Brazil. He’s encountered venomous creatures of all kinds, including the Malaysian king cobra, the Komodo dragon, and the brush-footed trapdoor spider. Bryan recounts his lifelong passion for studying the world’s most venomous creatures in this outlandish, captivating memoir, where he and danger are never far apart.



Archie Comics Digest Magazine #62, 104 pages

 


Archie Comics Digest #30, 104 pages

 


The Puppet's Payback and Other Chilling Tales by Mary Downing Hahn, 184 pages

 The author of wildly popular ghost stories, Mary Downing Hahn has created a group of tales for fans of her "scary but not too scary" books. Even the stories without actual ghosts are spooky. Each tale turns something ordinary—a pigeon, a white dress, a stranger on the bus, a puppet—into a sinister link to the supernatural. For the human characters, secrets from the past or careless behavior in the present can lead to serious trouble. All the stories have a young person as the central character, so all will resonate with young readers who enjoy the eerie, the creepy, and the otherworldly. In a concluding note, the author talks about how she came to write ghost stories.