Book picks similar to
Peril en Pointe by Helen Lipscombe


middle-grade
mystery
mystery-thriller
middlegrade

The House in the Woods


Yvette Fielding - 2021
    What starts out as a bit of fun, soon transcends into something far more terrifying when a distressed and determined spirit follows them home. Before long the friends are caught up in a series of events beyond their wildest imaginings and their journey as ghost hunters begins...'When I grow up I wanna be a ghost hunter!' Keith Lemon'If you’re reading this scary book in bed then it might be wise to leave the landing light on' Paul O’Grady'I'm too scared to read this!' Matt Lucas

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer


John Grisham - 2010
    . . and he’s only thirteen years oldMeet Theodore BooneIn the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk—and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom.But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much—maybe too much—he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth.The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served.Brimming with the intrigue and suspense that made John Grisham a #1 international bestseller and the undisputed master of the legal thriller, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer will keep readers guessing and pages turning.

Sky Song


Abi Elphinstone - 2018
    But the people of this land aren’t so easy to find. Because Erkenwald is ruled by a cruel Ice Queen and you must stay hidden or risk becoming another of her prisoners.   Join Eska, a girl who breaks free from a cursed music box, and Flint, a boy whose inventions could change the fate of Erkenwald forever, as they journey together in search of an ancient, almost forgotten, song with the power to force the Ice Queen back.   This is a story about an eagle huntress, an inventor and an organ made of icicles. But it is also a story about belonging, even at the very edges of our world . . .

The Nethergrim


Matthew Jobin - 2014
    But it’s when a group of children disappear that they know for sure: The Nethergrim has returned.Edmund’s brother is one of the missing, and Edmund knows he must do something to save his life. But what? Though a student of magic, he struggles to cast even the simplest spell.Still, he and his friends swallow their fear and set out to battle an ancient evil whose powers none of them can imagine.

A Properly Unhaunted Place


William Alexander - 2017
    She doesn’t want to be there. She doesn’t understand how her mother—a librarian who specializes in ghost-appeasement—could possibly want to live in a place with no ghosts. Frankly, she doesn’t understand why anyone would.Jasper Chevalier has always lived in Ingot. His father plays a knight at the local Renaissance Festival, and his mother plays the queen. Jasper has never seen a ghost, and can’t imagine his un-haunted town any other way. Then an apparition thunders into the festival grounds and turns the quiet town upside down.Something otherworldly is about to be unleashed, and Rosa will need all her ghost appeasement tools—and a little help from Jasper—to rein in the angry spirits and restore peace to Ingot before it’s too late.

The Magic Misfits


Neil Patrick Harris - 2017
     When street magician Carter runs away, he never expects to find friends and magic in a sleepy New England town. But like any good trick, things change instantly as greedy B.B. Bosso and his crew of crooked carnies arrive to steal anything and everything they can get their sticky fingers on. After a fateful encounter with the local purveyor of illusion, Dante Vernon, Carter teams up with five other like-minded illusionists. Together, using both teamwork and magic, they'll set out to save the town of Mineral Wells from Bosso's villainous clutches. These six Magic Misfits will soon discover adventure, friendship, and their own self-worth in this delightful new series. (Psst. Hey, you! Yes, you! Congratulations on reading this far. As a reward, I'll let you in on a little secret... This book isn't just a book. It's a treasure trove of secrets and ciphers and codes and even tricks. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll discover more than just a story--you'll learn how to make your own magic!)

Begone the Raggedy Witches


Celine Kiernan - 2018
    Pale, cold, relentless, they will do anything to coax Mam back to Witches Borough. When they kidnap Mup's dad, Mup and her mam must leave the mundane world to rescue him. But Mam is strange on this side of the border - striding, powerful, and distant. Even if they can save Dad, Mup is not sure anything will ever be the same again...

The Shadow Moth


Francesca Gibbons - 2020
    She should be nice to her mum’s boyfriend too. And she certainly shouldn’t follow a strange silver moth through a door in a tree. But then… who does what they’re told?Followed by Marie, Imogen finds herself falling into a magical kingdom where the two sisters are swept up in a thrilling race against time – helped by the spoiled prince of the kingdom, a dancing bear, a very grumpy hunter… and even the stars above them.Thrilling, sharply funny, and with characters you will fall in love with, A Clock of Stars is a timeless fantasy from an astonishing new voice.

Hide and Seeker


Daka Hermon - 2020
    Zee went missing for a year. And when he came back, he was . . . different. Nobody knows what happened to him. At Zee's welcome home party, Justin and the neighborhood crew play Hide and Seek. But it goes wrong. Very wrong.One by one, everyone who plays the game disappears, pulled into a world of nightmares come to life. Justin and his friends realize this horrible place is where Zee had been trapped. All they can do now is hide from the Seeker.

The Spirit of Cattail County


Victoria Piontek - 2018
    Some kids believe her house near the swamp is haunted. Others think there's something "unusual" about her.But Sparrow's not lonely--she has a best friend who's always with her. He sits with Sparrow on her porch swing. He makes her smile by playing pranks in church. Yet Sparrow is the only one who can see him . . . because the Boy is a ghost.So when her mama passes away, Sparrow doesn't give up hope. After all, if the Boy can linger after death, then surely Mama can return as well.But the Boy has a secret of his own, one that Sparrow will need to uncover before the ghost will lead her to Mama. To solve the mystery, Sparrows join forces with some unlikely allies--Maeve and Johnny, siblings from a family of town outcasts--and Elena, a visiting child fortune teller.With its loving depiction of small town life, and characters who feel like old friends, this magial debut will enchant you, dazzle you . . . and make you feel at home.

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse


Chris Riddell - 2013
    She lives in Ghastly-Gorm Hall with her father, Lord Goth, lots of servants and at least half a dozen ghosts, but she hasn't got any friends to explore her enormous, creepy house with.Then, one night, everything changes when Ada meets a ghostly mouse called Ishmael. Together they set out to solve the mystery of the strange happenings at Ghastly-Gorm Hall, and get a lot more than they bargained for...

The Dagger in the Desk


Jonathan Stroud - 2013
    It lurks in the shadows, spreading fear and icy cold – and it carries a sharp and very solid dagger...The headmaster wastes no time in enlisting the help of ghost-hunters Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle and George Cubbins.Can Lockwood & Co. survive the night and save the day?

The Secret Box


Whitaker Ringwald - 2014
    The page-turning mystery, alternating girl and boy narrators, and clever incorporation of mythology are sure to delight-and lingering questions will leave readers eager for more.On her 12th birthday Jax Malone receives a surprise gift from her estranged Great-Aunt Juniper: a mysterious locked box that will only open in one location. If Jax's mom hadn't tried to return it, Jax would have assumed it was just another boring present to add to the most boring, un-magical birthday ever.Instead, Jax decides she must open the box. So she recruits her reluctant cousin Ethan and his obnoxious, computer-genius older brother Tyler to help find the site where the box will open.But what starts as a fun adventure quickly turns crazy, even dangerous, when Jax, Ethan, and Tyler learn that the box was not intended as a gift, but as a call for help from an ancient magical source thought to only exist in myth."This mystery unfolds before your eyes in a series of cliffhangers that build up to a blow-your-mind ending. Wanting to know the secret kept me turning the pages."-Dan Gutman, New York Times bestselling author of the Genius Files series

My Teacher Is an Alien


Bruce Coville - 1989
    But she doesn't know how weird until she catches him peeling off his face -- and realizes that "Mr. Smith" is really an alien! At first no one will believe her except Peter Thompson, the class brain. When Peter and Susan discover Mr. Smith's horrible plans for their classmates, they know they have to act fast. Only they can get rid of their extraterrestrial visitor -- and save the rest of the sixth-grade class from a fate worse than math tests!

Boys of Blur


N.D. Wilson - 2014
    Pinned between the everglades and the swampy banks of Lake Okeechobee, the small town produces sugar cane . . . and the fastest runners in the country. Kids chase muck rabbits in the fields while the cane is being burned and harvested. Dodging flames and blades and breathing smoke, they run down the rabbits for three dollars a skin. And when they can do that, running a football is easy.  But there are things in the swamp, roaming the cane at night, that cannot be explained, and they seem connected to sprawling mounds older than the swamps. Together with his step-second cousin "Cotton" Mack, the fastest boy on the muck, Charlie hunts secrets in the glades and on the muck flats where the cane grows secrets as old as the soft earth, secrets that haunted, tripped, and trapped the original native tribes, ensnared conquistadors, and buried runaway slaves. Secrets only the muck knows.