Book picks similar to
The Doll Maker by Majanka Verstraete


childrens
published
lower_grade
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Ghost Girl


Ally Malinenko - 2021
    She just never expected to be living one.It all starts with a dark and stormy night. When the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing. There’s a creepy new principal who seems to know everyone’s darkest dreams. And Zee is seeing frightening things: large, scary dogs that talk and maybe even . . . a ghost.When she tells her classmates, only her best friend, Elijah, believes her. Worse, mean girl Nellie gives Zee a cruel nickname: Ghost Girl.But whatever the storm washed up isn’t going away. Everyone’s most selfish wishes start coming true in creepy ways.To fight for what’s right, Zee will have to embrace what makes her different and what makes her Ghost Girl. And all three of them—Zee, Elijah, and Nellie—will have to work together if they want to give their ghost story a happy ending.

Giggleswick: The Amadán Map


Matthew Mainster - 2012
    It’s called Giggleswick, and twelve-year old Elliot Bisby has never heard of it, that is until he and his family are approached by an unusual man and asked to move there. Before they know it, the struggling Bisby family finds themselves on a tiny boat captained by a man who prefers a singing parrot to a compass, and they soon embark on a journey that no other seaman could make and live to tell about. In Giggleswick, Elliot and his parents find themselves mingling with a colorful set of locals the likes of which include an Irish-Arabian bagpiper, a man who thinks he’s a knight, and a woman who does her exercises on the roof in high-heels.At last, Elliot has found the happiness he’s been waiting for and a place to call his own, but what he doesn’t know, is that helping Giggleswick to remain hidden from the rest of the world may prove far more difficult and dangerous than he could have ever imagined ...

Fairy Eyeglasses


Emily Martha Sorensen - 2016
    . . and what the fairies want her to do with them.A 12,000 word children's fantasy story.

Zombiekins


Kevin Bolger - 2010
    He's cowardly, shy, and spends most of his time hiding from the school bully, Knuckles Bruzkowski! Then Stanley stumbles upon the yard sale of his neighbor, Old Lady Imavitch, where he buys a mysterious stuffed animal. But this isn't any old toy . . . it's Zombiekins! He's a little bit teddy, a little bit bunny, and a whole lotta ZOMBIE! And he's coming this way! Stump! Scri-i-i-i-itch . . .Stump! Scri-i-i-i-itch . . .Stanley brings Zombiekins to school and unleashes the worst zombie plague in fourth grade history! Can Stanley find the courage to save the day before his teachers notice the class is full of zombies? Or will he soon join the ranks of the snuggily UNDEAD?

The Gravedigger's Son


Patrick Moody - 2017
    It’s his family’s job to bury the dead and then, when Called by the dearly departed, to help settle the worries that linger beyond the grave so spirits can find peace in the Beyond.But Ian doesn’t want to help the dead—he wants to be a Healer and help the living. Such a wish is, of course, selfish and impossible. Fossors are Gravediggers. So he reluctantly continues his training under the careful watch of his undead mentor, hoping every day that he’s never Called and carefully avoiding the path that leads into the forbidden woods bordering the cemetery.Just as Ian’s friend, Fiona, convinces him to talk to his father, they’re lured into the woods by a risen corpse that doesn’t want to play by the rules. There, the two are captured by a coven of Weavers, dark magic witches who want only two things—to escape the murky woods where they’ve been banished, and to raise the dead and shift the balance of power back to themselves.Only Ian can stop them. With a little help from his friends. And his long-dead ancestors.Equal parts spooky and melancholy, funny and heartfelt, The Gravedigger’s Son is a gorgeous debut that will long sit beside Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book and Jonathan Auxier's The Night Gardener.

Fang of the Vampire


Tommy Donbavand - 2008
    Collecting six relics left behind by the founding fathers of the community is the only hope of opening a doorway out of the street, so with the help of his friends Resus and Cleo Luke sets out to retrieve the first item.

Trixie The Halloween Fairy


Daisy Meadows - 2009
    But for Jack Frost, this holiday is all about the tricks! Three magical pieces of Halloween candy are missing, and Jack Frost's goblins are to blame. If Trixie the Halloween Fairy doesn't find the candy first, the holiday could be ruined forever!What a fright! Can the girls help Trixie outwit the mischievous goblins? Or will this Halloween be spookier than ever?

The House on Hackman's Hill


Joan Lowery Nixon - 1986
    But a raging snow storm forces them to spend the night -- and an evil ancient spirit might not let them see the dawn.

Tales of Mystery and Madness


Edgar Allan Poe - 2011
    The grim death known as the plague roams a masquerade ball dressed in red....A dwarf seeks his final revenge on his captors....A sister calls to her beloved twin from beyond the grave....Prepare yourself. You are about to enter a world where you will be shocked, terrified, and, though you'll be too scared to admit it at first, secretly thrilled. Here are four tales -- "The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death, Hop-Frog, " and "The Fall of the House of Usher" -- by the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. The original tales have been ever so slightly dismembered -- but, of course, Poe understood dismemberment very well. And he would shriek in ghoulish delight at Gris Grimly's gruesomely delectable illustrations that adorn every page. So prepare yourself. And keep the lights on.