Book picks similar to
Girlgoyle by Better Hero Army


fantasy
paranormal
middle-grade
adventure

Island of Fog


Keith Robinson - 2009
    Atmospheric and mysterious, ISLAND OF FOG is the story of eight children living in a dismal, perpetually foggy community on an island just off the north east coast of America.Increasing curiosity leads these 12-year-olds to question what lies "Out There" beyond the fog. Is the world really as dead as their parents insist? Are they truly the last surviving humans on the planet? Or are the children the subject of a dark scientific experiment?When the friends begin to experience frightening physical changes, they realize that their parents are keeping secrets. And when a stranger arrives on the island, it seems clear that the world beyond the fog can't be as dead as they've been led to believe. Convinced of a conspiracy, the children resolve to find out the truth once and for all... and discover a secret far greater than they could have imagined.

Darkness Brutal


Rachel A. Marks - 2015
    Since then, every three years the demons have returned to try to claim her. Living in the gritty, forgotten corners of Los Angeles, Aidan has managed to protect his sister, but he knows that even his powers to fight demons and speak dead languages won’t keep her safe for much longer.In desperation, Aidan seeks out the help of Sid, the enigmatic leader of a group of teens who run LA Paranormal, an Internet reality show that fights demons and ghosts. In their company, Aidan believes he’s finally found a haven for Ava. But when he meets Kara, a broken girl who can spin a hypnotic web of passionate energy, he awakens powers he didn’t know he had―and unleashes a new era of war between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness.With the fate of humanity in his hands, can Aidan keep the Darkness at bay and accept his brilliant, terrifying destiny?

Crane


Stacey Rourke - 2014
    Centuries later, a Crane returns to Sleepy Hollow awakening macabre secrets once believed to be buried deep. What if the monster that spawned the legend lived within you?Now, Ireland Crane, reeling from a break-up and seeking a fresh start, must rely on the newly awakened Rip Van Winkle to discover the key to channeling the darkness swirling within her. Bodies are piling high and Ireland is the only one that can save Sleepy Hollow by embracing her own damning curse. But is anyone truly safe when the Horseman rides?

The Last Necromancer


C.J. Archer - 2015
    But when one theft too many gets her arrested, her only means of escape lies with a dead man. Charlie hasn't raised a spirit since she first discovered she could do so five years ago. That time, her father banished her. This time, she brings even more trouble upon herself.People are now hunting Charlie all over London, but only one man succeeds in capturing her. Lincoln Fitzroy is the mysterious head of a secret organization on the trail of a madman who needs a necromancer to control his newly "made" creatures. There was only one known necromancer in the world - Charlotte - but now there appears to be two. Lincoln captures the willful Charlie in the hopes the boy will lead him to Charlotte. But what happens when he discovers the boy is in fact the young woman he's been searching for all along? And will she agree to work for the man who held her against her will, and for an organization she doesn't trust? Because Lincoln and his ministry might be just as dangerous as the madman they're hunting.

Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Stories


Terry Pratchett - 2014
    It’s a disaster!Luckily, there’s a spare suit of armour and a very small boy called Ralph who’s willing to fill it. Together with Fortnight the Friday knight and Fossfiddle the wizard, Ralph sets out to defeat the fearsome fire-breathers.But there's a teeny weeny surprise in store . . .Fourteen fantastically funny stories from master storyteller Sir Terry Pratchett, full of time travel and tortoises, monsters and mayhem!‘So funny I dropped my spoon laughing!’ – King Arthur

The Evil Wizard Smallbone


Delia Sherman - 2016
    H. White, a lost boy finds himself an unlikely apprentice to the very old, vaguely evil, mostly just grumpy Wizard Smallbone.When twelve-year-old Nick runs away from his uncle’s in the middle of a blizzard, he stumbles onto a very opinionated bookstore. He also meets its guardian, the self-proclaimed Evil Wizard Smallbone, who calls Nick his apprentice and won’t let him leave, but won’t teach him magic, either. It’s a good thing the bookstore takes Nick’s magical education in hand, because Smallbone’s nemesis—the Evil Wizard Fidelou—and his pack of shape-shifting bikers are howling at the borders. Smallbone might call himself evil, but compared to Fidelou, he’s practically a puppy. And he can’t handle Fidelou alone. Wildly funny and cozily heartfelt, Delia Sherman’s latest is an eccentric fantasy adventure featuring dueling wizards, enchanted animals, and one stray boy with a surprising knack for magic.

Rose


Holly Webb - 2009
    For the house is positively overflowing with sparkling magic—she can feel it. And it’s not long before Rose realises that maybe, just maybe, she has a little bit of magic in her, too. . . .The first book in an exciting, get-lost-in-the-world series about orphans, alchemy, magical powers and sinister child-catchers.

Awaken


Rachel M. Humphrey-D'aigle - 2011
    In the process, they have a dark awakening when their own simple, normal world, begins to collide with the complexities of the magical world. The twins face unimaginable dangers, which thrust them into an unexpected choice: to live as they always have or to learn the truth about their past and enter a world that is equally thrilling and terrifying. More importantly, however, is whether they even have a choice, or will destiny not only force this new magical reality upon them, but require them to sacrifice everyone they love in doing so? ...

The Mostly True Story of Jack


Kelly Barnhill - 2011
    Enter a world where magic bubbles just below the surface. . . . When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for quite a long time. When he arrives, he begins to make actual friends for the first time in his life-but the town bully beats him up and the richest man in town begins to plot Jack's imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. It's up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically... invisible.The Mostly True Story of Jack is a stunning debut novel about things broken, things put back together, and finding a place to belong. "There's a dry wit and playfulness to Barnhill's writing that recalls Lemony Snicket and Blue Balliett...a delightfully unusual gem." --Los Angeles Times

Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel


A.W. Jantha - 2018
    Diving once more into the world of witches, this electrifying two-part young adult novel, released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1993 film, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus. Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens.Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Massachusetts, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches, the Sanderson sisters, from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on earth to torment Salem for all eternity.Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison's seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest death-defying scheme.

Dark Realms


Kristen Middleton - 2014
    Most series books are available currently in the Kindle Unlimited Program (Read For Free!) Wicked (A Night Roamers Short) When eighteen-year-old Emily wakes up to find herself being held captive in a barn with four other women and tries to escape, she finds herself being hunted by a dark presence through the deep woods of Montana. Blur (Book One of Night Roamers) Danger lurks in the dead of night... Seventeen year old Nikki and her twin brother, Nathan, move to the small town of Shore Lake to start over after their mother is brutally attacked. When a missing teenager washes up on shore during their first night at the cabin and there are whispers of vampires in Shore Lake, Nikki begins to realize that there are things roaming in the darkness that are far more sinister than what they left behind in the city Enchanted Secrets (Book One of Witches Of Bayport) Magic, murder, and mayhem... Eighteen-year-old Kendra learns that her mother has been keeping secrets, the biggest being that she and her twin sister, Kala, are descendants of a long line of witches. Unfortunately, where magic reigns, so does danger and she is forced into an adventure that leaves her racing against the clock to stop an evil curse. The Coin Collector (Stand-alone Short) In their small Iowa town, children start to go missing on their tenth birthday. The hot Irish girl across the street claims her creepy father, Mr. O'Darby, is a leprechaun who collects more than just gold coins, and 17-year-old Trent begins to fear for the safety of his brother, Ben, whose tenth birthday grows near. Zombie Games (Origins) Book One Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Wild thought that living in the chaos of her mother's home daycare and dealing with new feelings for Bryce, her martial arts instructor, was a struggle until her world turned upside down. When an untested vaccine kills more than just a rampant flu virus, Cassie learns how to survive in a world where the dead walk and the living... run! Venom – (Derived from Night Roamers) When Melody Williams goes missing at a concert, at Club Nightshade, her eighteen-year-old cousin, Chelsey Fairfax, sneaks into the club to find answers. Little does she know that some mysteries are better left hidden. Meanwhile, Venom is in town, a hot new band from Europe, and the owner of Club Nightshade wants them there permanently...

Dead Scary: The Ghost who refused to leave


Sally Gould - 2014
    He can see and talk with ghosts.When his family moves into what seems like the home of his dreams, Adam finds out it isn’t his dream home after all. Edward Lawrence, a bossy ghost who was Adam’s age when he died, regards the home as his own and he doesn’t want to share it with an annoying boy who can see him.After Edward fails to convince Adam to get his family to move out, he seeks powerful help from the earthbound spirit world to get rid of them.However, Adam has an ally in the earthbound spirit world as well as knowing a handful of tricks to get rid of ghosts. Adam just has to get rid of Edward before the Council of Earthbound Spirits authorizes Warrior Spirits to get rid of Adam and his family. But will Adam succeed in time?When you’re the only one who knows, you’re on your own.Book Categories: Ghost stories for kids 9 – 12 Adventure books for kids 9 – 12 Ghost children Children’s books for kindle ages 9-12Please scroll up and click the Look Inside feature on the top left hand side of the page.

Guest: A Changeling Tale


Mary Downing Hahn - 2019
    When malicious sprites called the Kinde Folke snatch Mollie’s baby brother and replace him with a hideous changeling, Mollie travels through eerie, perilous lands to save him.   When her adorable baby brother is replaced by an ugly, ill-tempered changeling, Mollie is determined to find the so-called Kinde Folke who took baby Thomas, return the changeling she calls Guest, and make them give Thomas back. Natural and magical obstacles and her own reckless temperament make her journey arduous and full of dangers, and a plot rich in surprises and twists makes this book a must-read for Mary Downing Hahn’s fans.

Initiate


Tara Maya - 2010
    A DETERMINED GIRL Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan... AN EXILED WARRIOR Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.

Scary Mary


S.A. Hunter - 2006
    When a new boy starts school, he surprises Mary by befriending her. That's a rare thing for the school freak, but her unusual abilities put a rift in their budding friendship when Mary has to tell Cy that his home is haunted and not by Casper, the friendly ghost. Mary has to get rid of the ghost, thwart the school bully, do her homework, and not get detention. Mary's sure she can do all of that except for the last part.