The Secret Grave (A Hauntings Novel)

by Lois Ruby

Overview

From the author of The Doll Graveyard comes a classic ghost story for fans of Wait Till Helen Comes and The Dollhouse Murders!

Nightshade can be deadly.Hannah and Scooter's sprawling, ramshackle house is named for the lethal plant that grows in the dark woods behind it. Hannah knows she's not supposed to explore the forest or nearby Moonlight Lake. But she's feeling lonely and desperate for an adventure. And there Hannah meets Cady, a mysterious girl who promises everything Hannah's been missing. Only Cady has a secret: Cady wants Hannah all to herself.Soon Cady is copying Hannah's style so they can be more alike. She lies to Hannah's friends, insults Scooter, and begs Hannah to break her parents' rules and sneak out for a midnight swim. Hannah wants to believe Cady's just a little insecure. But when she discovers a cemetery beyond the lake with an eerily familiar headstone, she must decide whether to trust her new friend or dig for answers that may lead her to a watery grave . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545933179
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/27/2017
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Lexile:	810L (what's this?)
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lois Ruby is the author of several books for middle graders and teens, including The Doll Graveyard, Rebel Spirits, Steal Away Home, The Secret of Laurel Oaks, and Strike! Mother Jones and the Colorado Coal Field War. While traveling, Lois explores ghostly locations in Kansas, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and even a few spots in Australia, Spain, and Thailand. No spirits have tapped her on the shoulder yet, but she's ready for that to happen any time now. Lois and her husband divide their time between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Chicago, Illinois. Please visit Lois at loisruby.com.

Read an Excerpt

The low growth is thickyou can barely get a foot between the bushes. I shove one aside, hearing the crunching of broken branches as I slide through the thorny hedgerow. Beyond it is a large open field with tall grass waving like wheat in the gentle wind. Parting the grass, I keep walking. There's nothing and no one over here. Very curious. I expected to see a circle of houses where Cady's friends live, in a small village with a grocery store and a computer repair shop and an outdoor café, all of it shaded by huge, leafy trees –- cottonwoods and magnolias with ancient, knotty trunks.There's none of that. What I see instead is flat, bare land. Beyond the tall grass is more grass cropped close to the ground, as if it's been grazed by a hundred starving goats and cows, but there's not an animal in sight.I keep walking, half of me quivering with the excitement of discovery, and the other half aware that I'm farther and farther from home, as though I've stepped through some portal into another world. It's a huge relief to see a plane as small as a crop duster circling overhead. The pilot waves to me and put-putters away. Besides him, there's no sign of life.Off in the distance, beyond a circle of low, leafy bushes are several short stone outcroppings, reminding me of something mystical like Stonehenge. They're not lined up neatly –- no, they're stuck in the ground, facing every which way. Getting closer, my heart starts to pound. Why should these small monuments fill me with such dread? Something's so wrong here. Those stones are menacing because . . . because . . . now I'm close enough to see what they are.Tombstones.Some are old markers, pitted, chipped and crumbling, that look like they've been around since the beginning of time. Then there are some newish shiny, pink marble ones.This is a cemetery.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Doll Graveyard:



"Perfect for fans of classic spooky stories." --< i>Booklist



"An effectively spooky, poignant ghost story." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

05/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Twelve-year-old Hannah Eileen Flynn is irritatingly referred to as Hannah-in-the-Middle by her loud, boisterous family, made up of seven members—eight if you include their new creaky house, named Nightshade. Distraught over being abandoned by her two best friends, Luisa and Sara, who leave for spectacular summer trips, Hannah seeks solace in the peaceful forest behind her new home. Her dad has warned her not to go past the first row of pine trees, but she ignores this advice and is shocked to discover a hidden world in the quiet respite. She encounters a new friend, 12-year-old Cady. Hannah slips into the habit of escaping frequently to visit this forbidden area of the forest and is surprised every time how all signs of the outside world seem to vanish. Hannah can't quite put her finger on it, but there is something "off" about Cady, who wears oddly outdated shoes and clothing. Soon Hannah's new friend begins to appear in more modern clothes, which are almost exact copies of what Hannah is wearing. Cady also has an affinity for taming wild forest creatures, and she can eat the deadly berries from the belladonna plant. Meanwhile, Hannah is preoccupied with the fear that a ghost inhabits the attic of her new home. The Georgia setting is steamy yet chilling and lends the novel an eerie Southern gothic vibe. Suspense builds slowly but satisfyingly. Goose bumps will definitely be raised, but there's nothing too graphic. Tween readers are likely to enjoy the friendship dynamic in the plot as much as the horror. Hannah's heartfelt love of her family will also ring true. VERDICT An engaging Southern horror tale with plenty of friendship and family drama. For fans of lightly frightening fare.—Julie Shatterly, W. A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC

School Library Journal