Doll Bones, by Holly Black

Summary:  Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends from a Pennsylvania middle school who have long enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to Ohio to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl.

Margaret K. McElderry Books

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Dead Man’s Hand, by Eddie Jones

Summary:  When fourteen-year-old Nick Caden vacations at Deadwood Canyon Ghost Town, he finds himself in the middle of a mystery involving ghosts of infamous dead outlaws, disappearing dead bodies, and murders.

Zondervan

ParaNorman, by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Summary:  In a quaint New England town with a history of witches and pilgrims, misunderstood Norman Babcock can see and talk to ghosts. No one believes him, of course-everyone just thinks he’s weird. This young ghoul whisperer finds his paranormal talents pushed to their otherworldly limits in this hilarious and spooky adventure!

Little, Brown

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Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy

Summary:  After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to-and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with-her crush, Andrew Finkel.

Bloomsbury

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Legend of the Ghost Dog, by Elizabeth Kimmel

Summary:  A thrilling mystery set against a stark landscape and the inspiration of Nome’s real-life dog hero, Balto.  Twelve-year-old Tee has just moved to Nome, Alaska, with her writer father and sullen little brother, Jack.  On a walk near their new house, Henry spots something that has him seriously spooked. Tee sees a mysterious shadow, and it seems to be following them.

Scholastic

Whisper, by Alyson Noel

Summary: Riley might really have bitten off more than she’s ready for. After practically begging the Council for a more challenging Soul Catch, she is assigned an actual Roman gladiator, Theocoles, the Pillar of Doom. To get through to him, she is transformed into the beautiful and mature teen she’s always wanted to be. With a dream this enchanting, will she ever want to leave?

Square Fish

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Zero to Hero, by Henry Winkler

Ghost Buddy series

Summary: Billy Broccoli is new to the neighborhood, and wants cool friends and a spot on the baseball team more than anything. But the one thing he never wanted is his own personal ghost. So imagine his surprise when he ends up sharing a room with Hoover Porterhouse, a funny ghost with a whole lot of attitude. When an obnoxious school bully sets out to demolish Billy, the Hoove comes up with a plan for revenge.

Scholastic

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The Death of Yorik Mortwell, by Stephen Messer

Summary:  Following his death at the hands of fellow twelve-year-old, Lord Thomas, Yorik returns as a ghost to protect his sister from a similar fate but soon learns of ancient magical beings, both good and evil, who are vying for power at the Estate.

Random House

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Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver

Summary: A mix-up involving the greatest magic in the world has tremendous consequences for Liesl, an orphan who has been locked in an attic, Will, an alchemist’s runaway apprentice, and Po, a ghost, as they are pursued by friend and foe while making an important journey.

HarperCollins

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The Midnight Gate, by Helen Stringer

Summary:  Twelve-year-old Belladonna Johnson, who lives with the ghosts of her parents, once again teams up with her classmate Steve, whose mother has suddenly disappeared, when they are given a dangerous assignment by a ghostly monk involving a return to the Dark Times.

Feiwel & Friends

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Circle of Secrets, by Kimberly Griffiths Little

Summary: A year after her mother has deserted the family, eleven-year-old Shelby goes to stay with her, deep in the Louisiana bayou, where they both confront old hurts and regrets.

Scholastic

Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow, by Katy Towell

Summary: In Widowsbury, an isolated village where people believe “known is good, new is bad,” three outcasts from the girls’ school join forces with a home-schooled boy to uncover and combat the evil that is making people disappear.

Alfred Knopf

The Black Heart Crypt, by Chris Grabenstein

Summary:  A 200-year-old ghost inhabits a living ancestor in order to take revenge on eleven-year-old Zack and his family.

Random House

Girl Behind the Glass, by Jane Kelley

Summary:  Moving from Brooklyn to a rental house in the country strains the relationship between eleven-year-old identical twins Hannah and Anna Zimmer, a situation made worse by the ghost of a girl who is trapped in the house because of problems with her own sister eighty years before.

Random House

All the Lovely Bad Ones: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

Summary: While spending the summer at their grandmother’s Vermont inn, two prankster siblings awaken young ghosts from the inn’s distant past who refuse to “rest in peace.” 182 p., Clarion Books.

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