Deadman’s Castle

Lawrence, Iain. Deadman’s Castle. New York: Margaret Ferguson Books, Holiday House, 2121.
Ever since his father witnessed a crime seven years ago, Igor and his family have been on the run. They’ve moved all over the U.S.A., constantly hiding from a man who has threatened harm. Igor has never been allowed to attend school, own electronic devices, or have any friends. He has changed identities so many times, he can no longer remember where he was born or what he was first named.
On his twelfth birthday, Igor decides he is tired of living in fear. What if what his father has told him isn’t even true? What if no one is hunting them down? What if his father is actually crazy?
This quickly-paced, 243-page novel is highly recommended for readers 11 to 14 years of age.

Another novel of suspense by Iain Lawrence

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P.S. Remember the beginning of Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time? Remember how Meg thinks everyone in her family hates her and that is why she has been given a bedroom in the attic? Adolescence is generally a time of questioning adults and feeling unloved. As you read Deadman’s Castle, you might like to notice how Igor’s emotions and actions are common to many twelve-year-olds, even those who aren’t living in extraordinary circumstances.

The Starlight Claim

Wynne-Jones. Tim. The Starlight Claim. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2019.

Sixteen-year-old Nate sets out during the March spring break to spend a few days alone at his family’s remote cabin on Ghost Lake. His parents think he’s off to prove his survival skills, but he’s really going to look for his friend Dodge who disappeared the previous November. A surprise awaits: two escaped inmates are hiding out in his family’s cabin and a snowstorm is imminent. Will Nate be able to survive the storm? Will he be hide from the criminals? And why is his estranged grandfather involved? This long-awaited sequel to The Maestro is recommended for readers 13 years old and up.

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What if…?

Balliett, Blue. Out of the Wild Night. New York: Scholastic Press, 2018.
The historic homes on Nantucket Island are being redeveloped to make modern homes for newcomers. The ghosts of the people who once lived in them are not happy. But what can they do? What if they call on children to help? What will happen?
Past and present mingle in this action-packed 291-page ghost story. Highly recommended for adventurous readers 11 to 14 years old.

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Can This Be Real?

“Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.” Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish writer


Ruiz Zafon, Carlos. The Midnight Palace.  New York: Little, Brown, 2011.

Ben has been raised in an orphanage in Calcutta, India.  He thinks he is alone in the world until he discovers, on his sixteenth birthday, that he has a twin sister.  He also discovers that a monstrous ghost from the past is trying to kill both of them. Set in the 1930s, this suspense-filled novel, translated from Spanish, will be enjoyed by readers 11 to 16 years old.  (India; Historical fiction; Demonology; Orphans; Twins; Secret societies; Friendship)

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“If you try to cure evil with evil, you will add more pain to your fate.” Sophocles, ancient Greek playwright

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. Echo: a Novel.  New York: Scholastic Press, 2015.

“Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica–and decades later three children, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny in the darkest days of the twentieth century, struggling to keep their families intact, and tied together by the music of the same harmonica.” – CIP. A 587-page Newbery Honor book recommended for readers 10 years old and up. 

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“Yet it would be your duty to bear it, if you could not avoid it: it is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.”  Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Yelchin, Eugene. The Haunting of Falcon House.  New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2016. 

“In 1891, twelve-year-old Lev Lvov travels to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to assume his duties as Prince, but must first use his special gift to rid the House of Lions of a ghost.” – CIP. Written by Prince Lev Lvov with pictures drawn in his own hand; translated by Eugene Yelchin who writes in the preface, “when I was a schoolboy in St. Petersburg, Russia,…I came upon a bundle of paper held together with frayed twine….Some years passed….Resolved to faithfully restore Lvov’s original narration, I set to work. To carry Prince Lev’s feelings across to the reader, I became inwardly connected to the young prince…” A spell-binding story for readers 11 to 14 years old. [Aunts; Extrasensory perception; Haunted houses; Orphans; Princes]

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“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.” Thomas Merton, American writer