Exit Nowhere

Gr 4-8–Raithfield Manor has long stood abandoned and stories of its being haunted have lasted just as long, but Barret Eloise doesn’t believe in ghosts. That is, until she decides to research it for a group project on town history. Barret Eloise and her three classmates end up trapped inside the manor by a ghost intent on playing children’s games, and if they lose, they disappear. Most frightening of all: the children may not be alone in the house. This is a fun horror novel with just the right amount of spooky for kids wanting to dip their toes into the genre. The stakes are low for the protagonists, making this a relatively safe ghost story for even the most apprehensive readers. It also contains messaging that one doesn’t need to be perfect to be happy, and that, in fact, perfection can be lonely. Most characters read white; one of Barret Eloise’s group mates is Black.